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I would like to express my sincere thanks to
Professor Antonis Constantinides, whose as-
sistance from London and Cyprus ensured the
great success of the first ceremony. The fol-
lowing board members also provided tremen-
dous assistance: Andreas Christou, the Mayor
of Lemesos; former Minister Michael Sarris;
Stathis Papadakis, a tireless friend and associ-
ate; Agis Agapiou our legal advisor, and Cos-
tas Kallis, our accountant. I thank, from the
bottom of my heart, all the other members of
the board and the staff at Takis Nemitsas In-
vestments Ltd, our legal advisors, and all of
the government departments and Ministries
who helped us.
The first award ceremony, which took place
at the Hilton Hotel in Lefkosia, was a real tri-
umph. At last, Cyprus has an award to recog-
nise Cypriot scientists and artists who excel
within our borders and far beyond them.
Every year a sector is chosen from the five dif-
ferent fields as established in the articles. We
then form a prize selection committee compris-
ing scientists and academics based in London.
We received 30 applications for the first award.
Our prize selection committee reviewed these
applications, which took more than three
months, finally selecting Professor Kypros
Nicolaides of London for his advances in em-
bryonic medicine and Professor Eleftherios
Diamandis of Toronto, Canada, for his advanc-
es in biomedical research and cancer preven-
tion.
And what of Cyprien Katsaris and Martino
Tirimo, this year’s winners for Classical
Music?
For 2011 we decided to present the award in a
very different area for us, the arts, particularly
classical music, and our selection committee
was charged with a very difficult task, one that
required extensive research – the committee in-
terviewed a wide range of musicians and others
involved in classical music, ultimately select-
ing two Cypriot success stories truly deserving
of the award, Cyprien Katsaris and Martino
Tirimo, and our board approved the decision of
the committee.
We hope, as part of this year’s awards, to ar-
range a recital within the scope of the Cyprus
Presidency of the EU in 2012. We want to pres-
ent a performance by our virtuosos for EU lead-
ers who will be visiting Cyprus during its presi-
dency, and for the people of Cyprus.
Which sector have you designated for the
2012 award?
Engineering, and we’ve already begun working
toward the award, which will be for Electrical
Engineering. We will announce the details once
the board has made its decision.
I would like to mention that Professor Marios
Mavronikolas, the Vice Dean of the University
of Cyprus, was recently elected Coordinator of
the Foundation, and he has already begun help-
ing us to organise the Foundation’s Academic
Council. The Academic Council will include
between 15 and 25 academics from all over the
world who will assist our board and Professor
Mavronikolas in selecting the Prize Committee
for each award.
What are the Foundation’s future plans?
We will continue with our program of yearly
awards, and we will continue to improve the
structure of the Foundation and build its finan-
cial strength and international standing.
The Foundation doesn’t receive grants or subsi-
dies from the state; it is entirely self-sufficient.
As with just about every Foundation, however,
serious donations or bequests are accepted and
welcomed with great respect and appreciation.
The Foundation recently accepted a donation
from the Law Office of Chrysses Demetriades
& Co, which has undertaken all the legal work
and other tasks related to the Foundation’s es-
tablishment without any charge whatsoever to
the Foundation. We would like to thank them
in particular as the first benefactors of our
Foundation.