A tribute to Nikos Lanitis

Abstracts from a Cyprus Mail article:

“OUR society is sick; suffering from the tumour of intercommunal strife. What I proposed was not a sweet – the sort of thing all too often offered to the public by people in politics – but a medicine; and people do not like medicines. The present cleavage will sooner or later turn into actual hate… the result will be open conflict…”These words were written by Nicholas C Lanitis in 1963 in the appendix to his booklet Our Destiny, a compilation of articles first published in the Cyprus Mail in March of that year. His words were to become prophetic with the outbreak of hostilities between Greek and Turkish Cypriots at the end of 1963, but few if any were listening. Nicholas C Lanitis, businessman, author, idealist and family man passed away a week ago at the age of 87, 10 days after returning to Cyprus as was his last wish. The words he wrote 42 years go are just as relevant today to the country he loved but exiled himself from for 34 years.Our Destiny, he wrote, was intended for those who loved Cyprus and were interested in the welfare of its people. It attempted, he said, to give a solution for bridging the gap that existed between the two communities, but “above all” to imbue to all Cypriots holding positions of responsibility with “a spirit… of true love for all Cypriots, irrespective of race or creed, which are so important in bringing about a solution to the problems at issue”.“This for him was what it was all about,” said his daughter Evie Lanitis. “He had a tremendous love for is country and its people. Everything that comes through to me is the total love he had for his country. That was really deep inside of him”Lanitis was born in Limassol in 1917. He was educated in Limassol and was a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the government, as Deputy Controller of Supplies in 1941 and 1942, and submitted a number of reports on the economic problems that faced Cyprus during World War II, before founding his own company, Lanitis Brothers, in 1943, of which he remained chairman until he retired in 2001. The company began by producing essential oils and later moved on to concentrated fruit juice and then brought Coca Cola to Cyprus.In 1944 he published Rural Indebtedness and Agricultural Cooperation in Cyprus. Other subsequent publications included A Question of Money and Trade Unionism and the Provision of Social Services in Cyprus. He also published a large number of newspaper articles, and was the founder and first chairman of the Employers and Industrialists Federation, and the Cyprus Productivity Centre.In the 1944 book, Lanitis said: “The true and most valuable type of entrepreneur is the one who despises subsidies and protection and is opposed to interference from above. He is also keen on solving his problems by himself and likes to be left alone. In so doing, he helps others and contributes to a great extent to the strength of the economy as a whole.”Evie said this essentially summed up her father’s approach to business, which did not at the time ‘fit’ with the way things were done in Cyprus. Evie said that during a brief visit to the island around three years ago Lanitis had been was asked by a local banker if he thought things had improved in his opinion. “Hoping he was going to get a raving reply, he shook his head in dismay ‘stagnant’, he said. To the point. He couldn’t stand liars”Despite his absence, Lanitis still held a deep knowledge of everything that was going on in Cyprus. Evie said she believed he also chose Andorra because he loved the mountains and he loved skiing. “He was very well respected and loved in Andorra,” she said.She said that when her father was ill last year, the president of Andorra visited him and said to the doctors: “It’s people like Mr Lanitis that we want in Andorra.”

Apparently, he didn't setup any websites calling himself 'great man' (akoueis Lissaridn???) tze epirev tous xapari tous blakes Kypreous politikous pou to 1963...