The International Academic Conference ”Colonial Cyprus (1878-1960)” proved extremely successful. More than 75 academics and researchers from Cyprus, Greece, the UK, Israel and other countries, presented their papers as part of the 16 parallel sessions, as well as the main session of the Conference, thereby covering a significant part of events and personalities that defined the colonial era of Cyprus.
The Conference took place on 7-8 February 2020 at the University of Nicosia and was dedicated to the memory of notable historian and former President of the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies Aristides Koudounaris (1936-2018). The Conference was organised by the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies, the School of Law of the University of Nicosia, the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus and the postgraduate programme in modern history of Neapolis University Pafos.
During the first day of the Conference, the plenary session included a keynote speech by distinguished Professor of the Centre of Hellenic Studies of King’s College London, Robert Holland, which referred to the English-Turkish relations during the 1950s. The distinguished historian referred to the ‘divide and rule’ policy of the UK, the Middle East situation, and the role of the USA. He also referred to the policy of partition, the positions of the British political parties, and the conclusion of the Zurich-London Agreements. Dimitris Samouel, Head of the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicos Christodoulides, read the Minister’s address and stressed the need for historical research.
Emilios Solomou, Chair of the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies, Achilles C. Emilianides, Dean of the School of Law of the University of Nicosia, and Petros Papapolyviou, Head of the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus, all expressed the view that the Conference exceeded expectations. They stressed the successful collaboration between the three universities and the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies.
Moreover, during the official launch of the Conference, Yiannis Toumazis and Artemis Koudounari-Giordamli, sister of the the late Aristides Koudounaris, referred to his work and his contribution to history and letters.