Obituary: Boghos Mahdessian

BOGHOS Mahdessian, a beloved father, husband, grandfather and former sports writer at the Cyprus Mail has passed away, aged 80.

Former colleagues praised him as a warm hearted, sensitive man with a smile that charmed anyone that had the pleasure to meet and speak to him. He was one of the first sports writers who co-founded the Cyprus Sports Writers Union (EAK) and regularly wrote about football and tennis events.

Born in 1934, he took over his father’s shop trading leather and was well respected by the Armenian, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

In a eulogy read out during the funeral service, former EAK president and Engomi mayor Zacharias Kyriakou said that his memory will live on through his wife, two children, three grandchildren, his brother and everyone who recalls his wonderful personality.

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.