Press Releases

Maria Panayiotou was born on June 5, 1982 in Larnaka.

She studied History and Archaeology at the University of Cyprus, from where she graduated in 2004 with honours. In 2006 she completed her postgraduate studies at the University of Birmingham, where she received the title Mphil (B) in Modern East Mediterranean History. In 2017, she was awarded a PhD in Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Cyprus.

In March of 2023 she had the honour to be appointed as Commissioner for the Environment by the President of the Republic.

From March 2016 until February 2023 she was the Head of the Press Office and Party Spokesperson of the Movement of Social Democrats EDEK. From 2004 until 2022 she worked on more than seven research projects of excellence, co-funded by the European Development Funds, the University of Cyprus, the Research Promotion Foundation and the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation, where she gained considerable experience in archival research and in management of research projects. Especially noteworthy was her employment as a member of the Scientific Team of the University of Cyprus for the project “Cyprus File” for the period 2007-2010.  From 2017 to 2022 she worked as a Special Scientist teaching economic history at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus.

She has published more than 16 scientific articles in mixed volumes and international scientific journals, such as the European History Quarterly, on the subject of economic history, while she has already participated in a large number of international scientific conferences, the most recent of which being the “International Conference of Modern Greek Studies Association” in Toronto, Canada, held in October 2022.

She comes from Agios Sergios, Ammochostos, and resides temporarily in Larnaka. Her parents are Michalis Panayiotou and Iphigenia Kossifou. She is the mother of an eight-year-old boy, Achilleas Ioannou.

(MS/IA)