THE GOVERNMENT has welcomed the return to the island of Nobel prize winner Christopher Pissarides, who will return to Cyprus in January as a lecturer at the University of Cyprus.
“At a time when Cyprus is experiencing a financial crisis his knowledge will be invaluable to his country. We will certainly make use of Pissarides’ knowledge,” said Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalidis, who also expressed the view that Pissarides “can help as a Government adviser on technology, innovation and many other sectors”.
Pissarides was announced on Monday as the 2010 winner of the Nobel Prize of Economics.
Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous also agreed that Pissarides’ opinion will be vital. “His view on long-term unemployment will be very important to us and he can help to show us how we can improve,” she said
Pissarides left Cyprus for Athens on July 14, 1974 to bring his fiancée back to Cyprus. However, the coup took place the next day, followed by the Turkish invasion, and the young economist could not return home. His father had lost his business as a cloth merchant due to the invasion and Pissarides, who had just got a job at the Central Bank, had to leave everything behind and start again in Southampton.
More than 36 years have passed since and the modest man has not only excelled personally but has also won Cyprus’ heart with pride by receiving the highest possible accolade in his field.
His sister Anna Konstantinidou describes Pissarides as a youngster: “From an early age it was obvious how smart he was. He was very good at maths and hardly ever studied, he just got things from class. During his university years he was very modest, and softly spoken.”
She continued: “He has wanted to return to Cyprus for a long time. There was a possibility in 2007 to return and even though he was the Head of Department at the London School of Economics, he would have been willing to give it all up, for the opportunity to return home.”
Pissarides’ late father Antonakis Pissarides hails from the village of Agros and moved to Nicosia for work at the age of nine. Christopher Pissarides has always had a special place in his heart for Agros and he visits the village at every opportunity. Local magazine AGROS congratulated him when he was first nominated for the accolade in 2007 and hoped that he would win it in the future. Now it seems that those hopes have been realised.
