Rotary Club of Nicosia, Cyprus
60 years of History of the NICOSIA ROTARY CLUB
The Rotary Club of Nicosia was founded
by Governor Merton on June 30th, 1938, and it was the first
Rotary Club to be founded in Cyprus.
The names of the founder-members give
prestige and declare most profoundly the high integrity of
the newly founded Club, judging from the participation of a
most distinguished group of Nicosia citizens:-
The founder Members are:-
N. Disney, George Poulias, Theodoros
Artemis, Sir M. Munir Bey, M. Fuad Bey, D.N. Dimitriou, E.
Tibbitt, H. Lees, Lucien Lichtenstein, Dr. M. Raouf, Stelios
Georgallides, J. Cullen, H. Jones, Stelios Pavlides,
Sophocles Petrides, Costas Manglis, George Schiza and
Demosthenis Severis (the grandfather of our P.P.
Demosthenis).
The first President of the Club was Mr. Disney, Vice
President was Mr. Fuad Bey and Secretary Mr. Theodoros
Artemis. Other Members of the Board were: Sir Mehmet Munir,
Mr. George Poulias and Mr. L. Lichtenstein.
The Club's roll of members included
people of various nationalities and religions but with one
and only one main idea "Service Above Self”. The English
language was adopted for the weekly meetings of the Club.
Nothing has changed for the last 60 years.
Our Club still continues to follow the
same practice.
During the first 25 years, which
obviously included the years of the Second World War, the
Club's activities were rather limited to matters concerning
community welfare. I can mention, however, that the Club,
for quite a number of years, provided funds for the supply
of shoes and clothing to poor children at Christmas and
Bairam.
After the end of the War and in the
year 1949 the Club sponsored the scholarship for a Cypriot
to study abroad modern techniques of education for the Deaf
and Dumb children. On his return, the Club founded the
School for Deaf Children and continued to run it for the
next three years until responsibility for the school was
undertaken by the Government of Cyprus. Since that time, the
Club has maintained close ties with the school and assisted
in the rehabilitation of the young men and women leaving it.
The Club continued its activities by
donating and contributing to the School for the Blind, the
Children's Hospital Wards, the Kyperounda Sanatorium and the
School for the Deaf. Regular features in the Club's
community service activities were the provision of presents
and entertainment for needy children, old people's homes,
hospitals, etc.
An event worth mentioning here is the
visit in 1954, for the first time in Cyprus, of the
President of Rotary International Mr. Seratosa Simbil. A
most warm reception was offered by our Club to him. Dr.
Thasos Girgotis was at this time President of the Club.
With the Declaration of Independence
in 1960 the Club's most important executed projects were:
(a) the construction of a
physiotherapy wing for crippled children at the Nicosia
General Hospital at a cost of £4000;
(b) the donation to the Government of
Cyprus of a mobile Dental Unit for use in schools at a cost
of £5000. This originality prompted the Government to
acquire a number of mobile units to serve every school on
the island;
(c) the organization of various
campaigns, for example, Safety Week, Tree Planting, as the
creation of a friendly forest near Larnaca in association
with other Rotary Clubs, etc.
(d) since 1950, the Club has gradually
ceded parts of its territory by sponsoring the formation of
Rotary Clubs in Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta and Kyrenia.
Our Club was again, for the second
time, the host of the President of Rotary International, Mr.
Roy Hickman and his wife, who visited Cyprus in 1972. P.D.G.
Takis Karakannas was at this time President.
Another event worth mentioning was the efforts made by our
Club towards the success of the negotiations for solving the
Cyprus Problem. To that, two weekly meetings of our Club
were organised, one at the Ledra Palace Hotel and the other
at Serai Hotel with speakers the Negotiators at that time,
Mr. Glafkos derides and Mr. Raouf Denktash. These two
friendly Rotary Meetings were of paramount importance as it
was expected that the negotiations were about to b.e
concluded successfully.
Our Club was the initiator for the
organisation, for the first time in Cyprus, of the wifes of
the Rotarians - then named,
Inner Wheel, and also organised
the first Interact Club at the English School Nicosia.
After the brutal Turkish Invation in
July 1974 the Club was obliged to abandon its meeting place,
the Ledra Palace Hotel, and established itself at the Hilton
Hotel. It is with great regret that I have to mention that
most of the records of the Club were lost during those
difficult times. It is anticipated that with the decision
taken for the acquirement of Club's premises the problems
which are being faced with the change each year of the
Club's administration, will be solved.
In September 1974 a decision was
taken, on the initiative of the Rotary Club of Nicosia by
all the Rotary Clubs of Cyprus that the President of Nicosia
Rotary Club, Rotarian P.P. Loukis Petrides and the Past
District Governor, the late Costas Manglis, should visit the
President of Rotary International in Evanston, Illinois, to
plead for the Cyprus Refugees on humanitarian issues. As a
result of that visit, a letter was addressed to all Rotary
Clubs in the world stating the plight of the refugees. The
response was not as huge as it was expected but $30.000 were
collected, which were given to the Refugee Relief Fund.
Since the invasion, the Club has
concentrated in helping the refugees by providing students
with books and school equipment, a rotary saw was provided
for the use in the workshop of the School for the Deaf, as
well as sewing machines for refugees living in camps.
One of the most important and original
projects, which was undertaken and completed by the Club,
was the setting up of a donors' register and follow-up
service at the Blood Transfusion Centre at the Nicosia
General Hospital. The importance of this project was very
much appreciated and it was taken over by the Government. It
was considered most essential and now it runs very
efficiently as a Blood Bank.
The Club, together with other Rotary
Clubs, initiated the establishment of the "Cyprus Rotary
Scholarships Foundation" which offers financial assistance
enabling a number of Cypriot students to attend institutions
for higher education abroad.
I would now like to mention some of
the main activities of the Club during the last two decades.
The following examples give a good picture of the activities
of the Club:
The donation of £10.000 to the Ayia Marina Old People's Home
at Strovolos. A room was added to the existing premises and
was named after our Club.
The induction of four ladies as
members of our Club, a decision first implemented in Cyprus,
even for the whole District 2450.
In order to develop international
fellowship, our Club proceeded and successfully completed
the twining with the Rotary Club of Thessaloniki and with
the Rotary Club of Mania (Crete).
The Thalassaemia Project - To that,
the Club sponsored the International Workshop on
Thalassaemia, in as much as Cyprus is the leader in
international committee for the fight against thalassaemia.
During the last two decades four
Rotary Clubs were established sharing the territory of our
Club, these being Ledra, Lefkothea, Aspelia and Salamina.
The last and most important project of
our Club is the donation of £10.000 for the establishment of
the Day Centre at Arodafnousa of the Anticancer Society of
Cyprus, where cancer patients, in a fairly good state of
health, can gather and socialise.
Our current project is the building of
a playroom at the Makarios hospital in Nicosia and
furnishing it accordingly so that ill children will be able
to play and enjoy themselves. This is budgeted for £15.000
Generally speaking, every year the
Club extends its help to various charitable establishments.
Such amounts may vary from £5.000 to £10.000 yearly, of
course, according to the availability of funds.
On many occasions the Club honoured old members and
prominent persons of the Nicosia Society and offered plaques
and certificates.
The very successful organization of
picnics for the members of the Club and their friends.
The constant support both financially and morally of the
Club to the Rotaract and Interact Clubs.
P.P. Glafkos Petrides
Member, Rotary Global History "RGHF Committee"
