Tassos celebrates at 105th birthday party

PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos travelled to the Troodos mountain village of Phini on Tuesday to wish its oldest resident a happy birthday.

Marina Michael turned 105 this week and to celebrate invited the president and village residents to tea at 6.30pm.

Although the 105-year-old has trouble walking she was in great form on the day, onlookers said.
Villagers said Michael, who is the oldest living resident in the picturesque mountain village just 44 kilometres northwest of Limassol, blew out her candles and offered everyone dessert.

According to village gossip the party might have been part of a ploy to win votes for the widow’s son-in-law who is running for mayor.

“Apparently her son-in-law is with AKEL and because most of the village is right wing she threw the party in the hope to swing more votes his way,” a villager who wished to remain unnamed told the Cyprus Mail.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.