Makarios III
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Makarios III
Bibliography
See biography by P. N. Vanezis (1971).
Makarios III
(secular name, Michael Christendous Mouskos). Born Aug. 13, 1913, in Panayia, near the city of Paphos. Church and state leader of Cyprus.
Makarios graduated from departments of theology at the University of Athens (1943) and Boston University (1948). During 1948-50 he served as bishop of Kition. From October 1950 he was archbishop, head of the autocephalous Orthodox Church, and ethnarch (leader) of the Greek community. Makarios took an active part in the struggle against British domination and for the independence of Cyprus; in 1956 and 1957 he was in exile on the Seychelles Islands. From 1957 to 1959 he lived in Athens, since the British authorities did not permit him to return to Cyprus. In February 1959, as the representative of the Greek community, he signed the agreements worked out by Great Britain, Greece, and Turkey in Zurich and London; these agreements formed the basis of the constitution of Cyprus. Since Dec. 13, 1959, Makarios III has been president of the Republic of Cyprus.