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
Makarios III the clerical name Makarios and returned to Cyprus. Like many public figures in the Greek Cypriot community in Cyprus, in the 1940s and 1950s he was an active supporter of enosis, the union of Cyprus with Greece. On 18 September 1950, Makarios, only 37 years old, was elected Archbishop of Cyprus. In this role he was not only the official head of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus, but became the Ethnarch, "de facto" national leader of the Greek Cypriot community. This highly influential position put Makarios at the centre of Cypriot politics. During the 1950s, Makarios embraced his dual role