George Vasiliou

George Vasiliou (in Greek, Γιώργος Βασιλείου) was President of the republic of Cyprus 1988-93. He was the founder and leader of the Cypriot United Democrats party (DIKO).

Vasiliou's father was a member of the central committee of AKEL, the Cypriot Communist party. He was a doctor by profession, and fought on the side of the communists in the Hellenic Civil War. After the end of civil war, Vasiliou's family settled in Eastern Europe. Vasiliou himself went to university in Hungary and was a student of Imre Nagy.

He was elected president with the support of AKEL in 1988, succeeding Spyros Kyprianou, who had served two presidential terms. As President, he stopped the police practice of keeping files on Cypriot citizens' political beliefs. He worked towards a negotiated solution to the Cyprus dispute based on the Ghali set of ideas, although the dispute remained unresolved by the time he left office in 1993.

Preceded by: Spyros Kyprianou

President of Cyprus 1988– 1993

Succeeded by: Glafkos Klerides