I was born in Lapithos on the 5th of may 1921. Of the nine children born, only four boys survived. I am the fourth and last boy of the family. My father came from a family of priests of over 150 years and had a special seat in the church, they addressed him always with the honorary title of Master-George. Just after graduating from the PanCyprian Gymnasium the 2nd World War was declared. All ports closed; nobody could travel; nobody could study. During these 5 years of war l worked in various jobs as assistant teacher, secretary, public servant under British rule. With the end of the 2nd World War, l enrolled at the Medical School in Athens. I sailed for 11 days to Athens, as a deck passenger. At the end of my ophthalmic studies I began my specialization as an ophthalmologic-surgeon in England for 5 years. I returned to Cyprus in 1959 and the my work prospects were excellent, as I was the only new ophalmologist, amongst the Greek-cypriots, and there was none within the Turkish-cypriot community. Through their visits at my practice very strong bonds of friendship were created. We exchanged many visits, and there was mutual respect and appreciation. Towards the end of 1963, due to political reasons amongst the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the two communities started drifting apart. This did not stop my Turkish friends from coming to visit me, and our feelings never changed. uring my entire practice as a doctor, I kept (and still keep) records of all my patients, which amounted to approximately 60 thousand cards. As School doctor, I have examined more than 150 thousand children, until 1974, when the government interrupted these examinations due to the Turkish invasion. I examined for ocular diseases as well as to conduct screening of the population. I have also worked very closely with the School for the Blind. With their help, I visited nearly all villages, making observations and studying the reasons for the high number of blind people. The objective was to eradicate the hereditary blindness, which at the time was widespread. It is to be noted that we succeeded in this project, even though we did not use the most orthodox methods. In September 1963 professor I.C. Michaelson (an internationally renowned ophthalmologist) arrived from Israel, to examine the blind children at the School for the Blind. We became very close friends and collaborators. He was the person who first had the idea to establish an institute of genetics in Cyprus, and fought for it until it was created. It was through him that I entered the international ophthalmological family and my subsequent frequent travels to Israel. The first time he invited me to travel with him to meet with his colleagues in Israel, my wife was about to give birth. My dilemma was to either go to start my international career or stay for my baby's birth. I finally went. On my return, while disembarking the aircraft, a friend of mine shouted at me ‘it's a girl, it's a girl'. It was the only girl in my family.