A special ceremony was held on Thursday, September 21, 2023, to confer an honorary doctorate on Professor Paschalis Kitromilidis from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cyprus. Mr. Kitromilides is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Athens, where he taught at the Law School (1980-1983) and then (1983-2016) in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. Since 1980, he has directed the Center for Asia Minor Studies, and he served as Director of the Institute of Modern Greek Studies of the National Research Foundation (2000-2011). He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Hellenic Parliament (2004-) and, since 2020, an external member of the Cypriot Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts. He has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard and Brandeis Universities in the USA, a Visiting Fellow at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, a Visiting Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, Fernard Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Visiting Professor at the Center for Italian Renaissance Studies (Villa I Tatti, Harvard University, Florence), and Charles Gordon Mackay Lecturer (University of Edinburgh). He has written or edited more than 50 independent publications and more than 270 scientific articles and book reviews. His books have been translated into French, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Turkish.

The work and personality of the honoree were presented by the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Associate Professor Petros Papapolyviou, who said, among other things, that by awarding Paschalis Kitromilides an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Cyprus “fulfills a debt owed by the scientific community of our island and our University to an internationally renowned scientist for all he has contributed and continues to contribute to our country and to Greek literature. And to an academic teacher who taught us, among other things, that in the science of history there are no absolute truths, no forbidden subjects, no room for fanaticism, dogmatism, and ideological obsessions. And that scientific discourse can maintain its credibility only when it remains strictly within the bounds of sobriety and tolerance.”

During the award ceremony, the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Associate Professor Petros Papapolyviou, read the relevant resolution, which, among other things, states that the honoree has emerged as a leading scholar of political science and the history of ideas with international recognition, a methodical and thorough researcher of the Modern Greek Enlightenment and its connection with the corresponding European trends and the Orthodoxy of the East, with significant work in Cypriot studies and in the preservation and promotion of the history of ancient Asia Minor civilization, and through his teaching and numerous writings, he passed on the innovative findings of his research, honoring his native Cyprus with his overall work and scientific presence.

Next, Mr. Kitromilides, in his response entitled “University Education and Cypriot Studies,” critically assessed Cypriot literature from the 19th century onwards, beginning with works on the medieval and modern history of Cyprus by representatives of the French and German schools and Greek literary romanticism. He focused on the turning point of 1878, both political and intellectual, as it was then that the first printing press on the island began operating, and on the contribution of the British school to the field of Cypriot studies, with the parallel development of the indigenous tradition of Cypriot studies. Finally, he assessed indigenous Cypriot studies after 1960, mainly the works published by the Center for Scientific Research and the multi-volume History of Cyprus, edited by Th. Papadopoulos, and highlighted the mission of the University of Cyprus to further cultivate and promote Cypriot studies research.

The start and end of the Proclamation Ceremony were announced by the Rector of the University of Cyprus, Professor Tassos Christofidis. Mr. Kitromilidis was honored by the presence of officials from the State and the Church, the President and members of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, members of the Council and Senate of the University of Cyprus, academics, admirers of his work, and students.