Former Finance Minister George Syrimis dies

FORMER Finance Minister George Syrimis died yesterday. He was 88. His funeral will take place today at 2.30pm at the Ayia Sofia Church in Strovolos. His family will accept condolences at the church from 10am. Syrimis was born in Nicosia in 1921 and went on to study Economics in the UK. He then became a certified accountant and started working in 1948 where he founded G Syrimis and Co which later developed into one of the biggest firms in Cyprus and is today KPMG. In 1961 he was one of the founding members of the Association of Cyprus Accountants and acted as president. He was also president of the Nicosia Rotary Club. From 1988 to 1993 he was Finance Minister under former President George Vassiliou. Syrimis was married to Barbara and had four children, Nicos, Olympia, Michalis and Marios, and six grandchildren. The 88-year-old was also an amateur painter and held numerous exhibitions of his works, the income from which he donated to charity and the National Guard.

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.