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conviction was that this curiosity, as a raw
material, with the right guidance by enthusiastic
teachers can lead to the love for learning.
Apassionate devotee of culture in all its aspects,
he tried to ingrain into culture and education
programs, creative innovations and changes
aiming at developing children to become
integrated personalities who love and respect
every facet of culture.
One of these innovations was the establishment
of the Musical Talent Development Programme.
His great desire was to give to the exceptionally
talented children of Cyprus the opportunity to
develop their talent in music with the provision
of education at the highest possible level. He
believed in this Program and he dreamed its
development into a distinctive presence both in
Cyprus and the European region.
And with the Program’s children’s repeated
and ongoing success, it appears he has been
vindicated by the results…
O
n 2 March 2015, the Patients Welfare
Council of Archbishop Makarios III
Hospital in Nicosia was presented with a
donation of €6,620, in the name of the late
former Minister of Education and Culture,
Pefkios Georgiades.
The Patients Welfare Council offers financial
support to the families of sick children, whose
conditions require lengthy and costly treatments.
The money was raised during the annual
concert held in remembrance of the much
loved former minister, who died suddenly in
2007. The concert was held by the Musical
Talent Development Program of the Ministry
of Education and Culture, under the artistic
direction of Professor Matheos Kariolou, on
24 January 2015 at the Strovolos Municipal
Theatre.
The cheque was handed over by the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Education and
Culture, Egli Pantelaki, to Nicosia District
Officer and Chairman of the Council Marios
Panagides. She was accompanied by Matheos
Kariolou and the children’s representative,
Nikoletta Demosthenous.
The concert was under the auspices of the
President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos
Anastasiades.
Major achievements in Cyprus and abroad
Announcing the concert back in January, the
Minister of Education and Culture, Costas
Kadis paid tribute to the late Education Minister
for being the man who inspired and created the
Musical Talent Development Program. “This is
why the annual concert presented by the some
forty children that attend it, is dedicated to his
memory,” said the Minister.
Kadis praised the Program’s children for their
major achievements in Cyprus as well as abroad,
receiving rave reviews and demonstrating great
talent and skill.
The programme included works from the
romantic period of classical music, by composers
Niccolò Paganini, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Franz Schubert and Pablo de Sarasate.
The audience was also transported to the
Baroque era, with classic work by Antonio
Vivaldi. will also take us to the Baroque era
In memory of Pefkios Georgiades…
Known as the “favourite Minister of children”,
the late Minister of Education and Culture
Pefkios Georgiades has remained in our
memory as the man who managed to gain the
hearts of a whole generation of children and
make his mark in the role of a Minister of
Education and Culture.
A man with vision and many dreams for the
children, he believed in them and their abilities.
He invested in their natural curiosity and his
Donation in memory of the late Pefkios Georgiades
(Centre front, left to right) Nikoletta Demosthenous, Marios Panagides, Matheos Kariolou and Egli Pantelaki
The late Pefkios Georgiades
Musical Talent Development Program of the Ministry of Education and Culture
