Demetris Christofias, the sixth President of Cyprus, was born on 29 August 1946. He graduated from the Commercial Lyceum in Nicosia. At the age of 14, he joined the Panhellenic Unified Organisation of Secondary School Students (PEOM) and actively participated in the work of the United Democratic Youth Organisation (EDON). In 1964, he became a member of the Progressive Party of Working People of Cyprus (AKEL) and the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO). In 1969, at EDON's fifth congress, he was elected to the organisation's Central Committee.
From 1969 to 1974, Christofias studied in Moscow at the Institute of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, where he studied philosophy and history. He defended his doctoral dissertation on "The Development of the Youth Movement in Cyprus and Relations between Turkish and Greek Cypriot Youth".
From 1977 to 1987, he held the position of General Secretary of EDON. Alongside this position, in 1982, he was elected to the Central Committee, and then to the Politburo of AKEL in 1986. In 1988, after the death of the long-standing leader of AKEL, Ezekias Papaioannou, Christofias became the General Secretary of the party. He was re-elected to this position in 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005, and stepped down in 2009 due to the significant workload associated with the presidency.
In 1991, Christofias was elected to the Cypriot Parliament for the first time and served there until he became the President of the country. From 2001, he was elected the President of the Parliament. He was also the chairman of the executive committees of the Cypriot group in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Cypriot branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
In the presidential election on 24 February 2008, Christofias was elected President of the Republic of Cyprus with 53.37% of the vote. His election led to him being the first and only communist president in the history of Cyprus and the entire European Union. Due to his lack of majority, he formed a coalition government that included other political forces—AKEL, DIKO, and EDEK. The newly elected president identified his top priorities for his time in office: the restoration of dialogue with the Turkish Cypriots and the resolution of the Cyprus problem. On 14 May 2012, Christofias addressed the nation in a televised speech, announcing that he would not participate in the upcoming presidential elections. His main reason was the lack of progress and the absence of a near-term prospect for resolving the Cyprus problem.
After completing his presidential term, from 2013 onwards, Christofias led a rather reclusive life, writing extensively, appearing at important party events, and trying to assist his party as much as he could. However, the reputation of the sixth President of Cyprus was tarnished, with many blaming him for the country’s economic problems. Starting in 2011, a systematic campaign was waged in the press to discredit his work, which continued even after the election of a new president.
Christofias was blamed for all the country’s issues, called to account on many matters, summoned to court, and had slanderous articles written about him and unflattering reports broadcast on national television. This inevitably took a toll on the former president’s psychological and physical health.
He passed away on 21 June 2019.