Zeta Aimilianidou Award awarded to Professor Sophia Xenophontos#
On 14 May 2025, Professor Sophia Xenophontos MAE, Member of the Classics and Oriental Studies section of Academia Europaea since 2024, received the Zeta Aimilianidou Award, which recognises exceptional and successful women in Cyprus. The award was given to her in Nicosia by Annita Demetriou, President of the Cypriot House of Representatives. This award is testimony to the enduring power of classical studies to illuminate the human condition, bridge past and present, and inspire a future grounded in wisdom, empathy, and critical thought.
Excerpt from the press release:
Ms. Annita Demetriou, President of the House of Representatives:
From the speech by Ms. Ourania Schiza, President of the Women’s Organization of the Democratic Rally in Cyprus:
From the amphitheaters of Oxford, the University of Cyprus, the University of Glasgow, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and today from her position as Senior Researcher at the Academy of Athens, Sophia has left a strong imprint on her academic field. Sophia Xenophontos does not simply study antiquity, she gives it a voice in the present.”
Zeta Emilianidou
(2 September 1954 – 6 June 2022) was a Cypriot lawyer and politician, who served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security of Cyprus from 4 April 2013 until her death on 6 June 2022.
