A Brief History of Rotary in Cyprus

THE FIRST Cyprus Rotary Club was established in Nicosia in 1938 at the initiative of a small group of distinguished Cypriot businessmen and professionals who had seen Rotary work abroad. The group included Costas Manglis, Zenon Pierides, Theodoros Artemis, Sir Mehmet Mounir, Stelios Georgallides, George Poulias, and others.

The club charter was presented to the club by the then Governor Arthur Merton and the first President was Rotarian N E Disney.

At that time Cyprus became part of District 195, which included Egypt, Lebanon, and other countries in the Middle East.

A long time gap intervened between the establishment of the first Rotary Club in Cyprus and the second, possibly due to the Second World War. However, the Island’s second Rotary Club, Limassol, was established in 1951, followed by the Rotary Club of Larnaca in 1953 – which was organized by the then Rotarian Mayor of Larnaca Zenon Pierides who had been one of the founder members of the Nicosia club and who later served as Director of Rotary International.

At about the same time, work started on the establishment of the Rotary Club of Famagusta, which received its charter in 1954.

There followed another pause of fifteen years and in 1969 Paphos acquired its own Rotary Club, to be followed next year, in 1970, by Kyrenia.

Today there are twenty Rotary Clubs in Cyprus, each of which has carried out a wealth of projects in its community and overseas.

You can find details of these Clubs and their projects on their websites, which are listed on the right.

In addition to the Rotary Clubs that there are a number of Inner Wheel Clubs for the ladies of Rotarians and also Rotaract Clubs and Interact Clubs catering for the youth of the Island.

HISTORY OF OUR DISTRICT AND CYPRIOT DISTRICT GOVERNORS

Cyprus joined Rotary on 22.08.1938 under Provisional District 83.
On 01 July 1949 Provisional District 83 became District 89 with Cyprus, Egypt, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.
On 01 July 1951 District 89 consisted of Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.
On 01 July 1957 District 89 became District 195 with Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.
On 01 July 1960 Jordan joined District 195.
On 01 July 1962 District 195 consisted of Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan & Jerusalem, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.
On 13 September 1965 Bahrain joined District 195.
On 01 July 1969 Syria left District 195.
On 01 July 1977 District 195 became District 245 with Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan & Jerusalem, Lebanon and Sudan.
On 9 June 1978 United Arab Emirates joined District 245.
On 01 July 1979 District 245 consisted of Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan & Jerusalem, Lebanon and Sudan.
On 01 July 1979 Jerusalem left District 245.
On 01 July 1991 District 245 became District 2450 with Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Sudan.
In 2002 The United Arab Emirates joined District 2450.
In 2010 Armenia, Georgia and Palestine joined District 2450.
In 2011 Sudan became two countries and South Sudan was placed in District 9200 (which in 2013 became District 9211).
On 01 July 2013 District 2450 was split, with Egypt becoming District 2451 and Armenia, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Sudan becoming District 2452.