Caleb78G9218343 at 03:23, 16 April 2026

2026-04-16T03:23:57Z

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{{Short description|Indian-born Cypriot actress (1921–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lila Irene Clerides
| native_name =
| image = Lila Irene Clerides.png
| caption = Clerides in 1998
| office = [[First Lady of Cyprus]]
| term_start = 28 February 1993
| term_end = 28 February 2003
| predecessor = [[Androulla Vassiliou]]
| successor = [[Fotini Papadopoulos]]
| president = [[Glafcos Clerides]]
| term_label2 = Acting
| term_start2 = 23 July 1974
| term_end2 = 7 December 1974
| predecessor2 = Vera Sampson
| successor2 = ''Position vacant''
| president2 = [[Glafcos Clerides]]
| birth_name = Lila Erulkar
| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|10|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Ahmedabad]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|6|6|1921|10|31|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Meneou]], [[Larnaca District]], [[Cyprus]]
| spouse = [[Glafcos Clerides]] ([[marriage|m.]] 1947; her death 2007)
| children = Katherine
| party =
| other_party =
| education =
| occupation = Actress
| website =
}}

'''Lila-Irene Clerides''' (''née'' '''Lila Erulkar'''; 31 October 1921 – 6 June 2007) was the [[First Lady of Cyprus]] briefly in 1974 and again from 1993 until 2003 during the [[President of Cyprus|presidency]] of her husband, [[Glafcos Clerides]].<ref name=reuters>{{cite news|title=Indian born wife of former Cypriot president dies |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-30173520070606 |work=[[Reuters News]] |date=July 12, 2007 |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628004250/https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-30173520070606 |archive-date=June 28, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=cm>{{cite news|title='A most devoted couple' |url=https://cyprus-mail.com/2013/11/17/a-most-devoted-couple/ |work=[[Cyprus Mail]] |date=November 17, 2013 |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702190520/http://cyprus-mail.com/2013/11/17/a-most-devoted-couple/ |archive-date=July 2, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Biography==
Clerides was born in [[Ahmedabad]], [[British Raj|British India]].<ref name=mea>{{cite news|title=India–Cyprus Relations |url=http://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/Cyprus_2015_07_17.pdf |work=[[Ministry of External Affairs (India)]] |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516223352/http://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/Cyprus_2015_07_17.pdf |archive-date=May 16, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her father, Dr Abraham Solomon Erulkar, was a prominent [[Indian Jewish]] medical doctor in [[Bombay]], President of the [[Medical Council of India]], and [[personal physician]] to [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<ref name=it>{{cite news|first=Michael |last=Jansen |title=Long-standing antagonists due to meet in New York for peace talks |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/long-standing-antagonists-due-to-meet-in-new-york-for-peace-talks-1.87504 |work=[[Irish Times]] |date=1997-07-03 |access-date=June 28, 2019 }}</ref><ref name=outlook>{{cite news|title=Coming Home to India |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/glitterati/72 |work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)]] |date=1997-02-26 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629122006/https://www.outlookindia.com/glitterati/72 |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> A supporter of [[Indian nationalism]], Dr Erulkar was a close associate of both Gandhi and [[Khan Abdul Ghani Khan]].<ref name=it/><ref name=nn>{{cite news|first=Bryan |last=Pearson |title=Sunbeds and snipers as President Kovind goes to the beach in Cyprus |url=https://www.newsnation.in/opinion/bryan-pearson/president-ram-nath-kovind-on-three-day-nation-tour-in-europe-goes-to-the-beach-at-fig-tree-bay-in-cyprus-cypriot-president-nicos-anastasiades-article-202130.html |work=[[News Nation]] |date=September 5, 2018 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302082355/https://www.newsnation.in/opinion/bryan-pearson/president-ram-nath-kovind-on-three-day-nation-tour-in-europe-goes-to-the-beach-at-fig-tree-bay-in-cyprus-cypriot-president-nicos-anastasiades-article-202130.html |archive-date=March 2, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=dh>{{cite news|first=Michael |last=Jansen |title=President Pratibha Patil to cement close ties with Cyprus |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/32990/president-pratibha-patil-cement-close.html |work=[[Deccan Herald]] |date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629132136/https://www.deccanherald.com/content/32990/president-pratibha-patil-cement-close.html |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Clerides was raised in the [[Gujarat]]i port city of [[Surat]], as well as [[Mumbai|Bombay]].<ref name=outlook/><ref name=dh/> She lived and studied in Bombay until she moved to London when she was 11 years old.<ref name=of>{{cite news|first=Ramesh |last=Ramachandran |title=India-born former first lady of Cyprus passes away |url=http://articles-by-ramesh-ramachandran.blogspot.com/2011/06/india-born-former-first-lady-of-cyprus.html |work=Ramesh Ramachandran |date=June 20, 2007 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108065521/http://articles-by-ramesh-ramachandran.blogspot.com/2011/06/india-born-former-first-lady-of-cyprus.html |archive-date=November 8, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Erulkar studied speech at the [[Royal Academy of Music]] and became a professional actress.<ref name=outlook/><ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden |title=Glafkos Clerides, Greek Cypriot Leader Who Sought Unification, Is Dead at 94 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/world/europe/glafkos-clerides-greek-cypriot-leader-who-sought-unification-is-dead-at-94.html |work=[[New York Times]] |date=November 15, 2013 |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101092153/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/world/europe/glafkos-clerides-greek-cypriot-leader-who-sought-unification-is-dead-at-94.html|archive-date=November 1, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Towards the end of [[World War II]], Clerides was hired by the [[BBC World Service]] in [[London]], where she worked with novelist [[George Orwell]].<ref name=reuters/> While working in London, she met her future husband, Cypriot Glafcos Clerides, a law student and [[air gunner|gunner]] for the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF), shortly after the end of the war.<ref name=reuters/><ref name=cm/> Clerides had visited BBC's headquarters to see his sister, Chrysanthe, who also worked at the broadcaster.<ref name=cm/> Clerides met him in the office while he waited to see Chrysanthe.<ref name=cm/> The trio went out to the [[Vienna Café]] after work, and Clerides and Clerides began dating shortly afterwards.<ref name=cm/>

Clerides once recalled that she went on her first date with Clerides because he was a "craggy youth who had just been released from a concentration camp"<ref name=cm/> (Clerides had been held as a POW in Nazi Germany during World War II). After a few dates, Clerides proposed marriage to Clerides, who initially turned him down, telling him, "You were a [[prisoner of war]] and have seen no women, let's wait a little".<ref name=cm/> However, he persisted and she eventually accepted his proposal.<ref name=cm/> Clerides sent a letter to her father in India to ask his permission to marry Lila.<ref name=cm/> Dr. Erulkar replied to Clerides with a short [[telegram]], but advised that the couple wait one year to marry, according to the account in Clerides' biography.<ref name=cm/> The couple complied to the request.<ref name=cm/>

After waiting one year, the couple married in a [[civil ceremony]] held in London in 1947.<ref name=cm/> Clerides converted to [[Greek Orthodox]] Christianity and chose "Irene" as her [[baptismal name]].<ref name=cm/> The couple had one daughter, Katherine (nicknamed Katy), born in 1949, who would serve in the [[House of Representatives (Cyprus)|House of Representatives]] for the [[Democratic Rally]] party.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|title=Profile Glafcos Clerides |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2625551.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |date=January 3, 2003 |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616075953/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2625551.stm |archive-date=June 16, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===First Lady of Cyprus===
Clerides became First Lady in 1993. Upon their elevation to President and First Lady, Archbishop [[Chrysostomos I of Cyprus]], the head of the [[Church of Cyprus]], suggested that Clerides and Clerides have a church wedding,<ref name=cm/> which they did in 1995 at the ages of 76 and 74 respectively.<ref name=reuters/>

In February 1997, Clerides and Clerides undertook an official, six-day [[state visit]] to her native India, including [[Mumbai]].<ref name=outlook/><ref name=of/> During her tour, Clerides explained that India's independence movement helped her understand Cyprus' move towards independence from the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name=of/> She also spoke of her admiration for India, saying, "I love India. I love the people. I love its history. I was brought up as an Indian and I have to admit that my pride in India is noticed by everybody. I have not changed in that in one iota."<ref name=of/>

==Death==
Clerides suffered from deteriorating health during her later years.<ref name=reuters/> She spent several weeks in hospital during the summer of 2007, but was discharged about one week before her death.<ref name=reuters/> Clerides died at her family home in [[Meneou]], just outside [[Larnaca]], on 6 June 2007, at the age of 85.<ref name=reuters/> She was survived by her husband, who died in 2013, and daughter, Katherine, who died in 2025.<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|title=Glafcos Clerides - obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/10453574/Glafcos-Clerides-obituary.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=November 15, 2013 |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622152257/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/10453574/Glafcos-Clerides-obituary.html |archive-date=June 22, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> She was buried in a family plot in a cemetery in [[Nicosia]].<ref name=nh>{{cite news|title=Indian born wife of former Cypriot president dies |url=https://www.thenationalherald.com/24739/state-funeral-cyprus-ex-president-clerides/ |work=[[The National Herald]] |date=November 19, 2003 |access-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702174130/https://www.thenationalherald.com/24739/state-funeral-cyprus-ex-president-clerides/ |archive-date=July 2, 2019 }}</ref>

==See also==

{{Empty section|date=April 2026}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerides, Lila}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:First ladies of Cyprus]]
[[Category:Cypriot actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century Cypriot actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century Cypriot women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Cypriot politicians]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music]]
[[Category:Indian Christians]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Cyprus]]
[[Category:Indian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:People of Indian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Cypriot people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:People from Surat]]
[[Category:Actresses from Mumbai]]
[[Category:People from Larnaca]]
[[Category:Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Cyprus]]
[[Category:21st-century Cypriot women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Cypriot politicians]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]

Lila Irene Clerides - Revision history

Caleb78G9218343 at 03:23, 16 April 2026