Ioannis Clerides member of the Colony's Executive Council (under the British colonial government) but resigned in 1956, protesting the deportation of Archbishop Makarios III to the Seychelles. In 1959 he was a candidate for President in Cyprus' first presidential election in 1959, with the support of AKEL, but was defeated by Archbishop Makarios III. Notably, his own son, Glafcos Clerides, supported Makarios over his father. He was awarded the QC and CBE by the British government. Ioannis Clerides died in 1961, aged 74. Ioannis Clerides Ioannis Clerides or John Clerides (Greek: Ιωάννης Κληρίδης, 1887 - 1961) was a Greek Cypriot lawyer and
Christianity in Cyprus became known, had major consequences for the Church of Cyprus. Under Lusignan and Venetian rule, the Church of Cyprus was pressured to recognize the authority of the Roman pope. Under the British, there was an attempt to secularize all public institutions, but this move was bitterly opposed by Church authorities, who used the conflict with the state to gain leadership of the Greek nationalist movement against colonial rule. At independence Archbishop Makarios III, a former monk, was elected president of the republic, holding this position until his death in 1977. His successor, Archbishop Chrysostomos, was head of the Church of