Androulla Vassiliou
Former European Commissioner for Education and Health
Androulla Vassiliou studied Law and International Affairs in London.
She practiced Law for 27 years and during this time she also served as legal adviser to ‘The Standard Chartered Bank’ and later to ‘The Bank of Cyprus’;
She was elected Member of the Cyprus House of Representatives for two consecutive terms (1996-2006) and served on various parliamentary committees. She represented The Cyprus Parliament at the Inter Parliamentary Union and the ‘Convention on the Future of Europe’. She was also member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the EU and Cyprus;
President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA 1991-1995);
President of the Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW-Cyprus 1996-2001);
Vice President of the European Liberal Party and Chair of the European Liberal Women’s Network (2001-2006);
President of the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre ( 2002-2008 and 2015-2019)
In March, 2008, she became member of the European Commission and for 2 years she was the responsible Commissioner for Health’;
In March 2010, President Barroso entrusted her with the portfolio of Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, a position she held until October 2014.
At present she holds the following positions:
Vice President of ‘Europa Nostra’, one of the biggest European NGOs in the field of Cultural Heritage and
Co- Chair of the Bi Communal Technical Committee on Culture in Cyprus
A member of the High Council of the European University Institute of Florence,
A member of the Board of Trustees of the ‘Cyprus Institute of Research and Education’
Member of the Board of the Centre of Visual Arts and Research (CVAR).
She has received the following honours:
The ‘Grand Cross of the Order of Benefaction’ from the Hellenic Republic,
An Honorary Doctorate from ‘Demetri Cantemir University’ of Romania;
Was named ‘Commander of the Order of the Arts and the Letters’ by the French Republic, in 2015 and
In January 2016 she received from the Kingdom of Spain the ‘Civil Order of Alfonso X el Sabio’ at a special ceremony at the Prado museum.
In February 2017 she received the award ‘Eryfilli’ from the Cyprus Employers Federation and the Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women ( BPW-Cyprus) as ‘A Woman Leader’
She is married to Dr George Vassiliou, an economist and former President of the Republic of Cyprus (1988-1993) and has three children.
