Born in
Limassol, Kyprianou is the younger son of
Spyros Kyprianou, who was
President of Cyprus from 1977 to 1988, and former
Cypriot First Lady Mimi Kyprianou. He studied law at the Law School of the
University of Athens and at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he specialised in international law and tax law and was awarded a master's degree in Law (LLM). He earned a second master's degree in law, specialising in Company Law and Taxation, at
Harvard Law School. He continued his academic career as a trainee at the Human Rights Commission of the
Council of Europe and by carrying out research in international law at the University of Cambridge. As a commissioner, one of his policies was the promotion of
warnings on tobacco packets, with the Commission moving towards pictorial warnings. Following several
European Union member states enacting
bans on smoking in public places Kyprianou proposed a plan for an EU-wide ban of that kind. In May 2007, Kyprianou released a paper to tackle the shortage of
organ donation in the Union. The plan included promotion, specially trained medical staff and an EU wide organ donor card. Markos Kyprianou was officially charged on 24 January 2012, together with seven other persons, by the Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus in relation to the
Mari blast. On 9 July 2013, a Cyprus Criminal Court found Markos Kyprianou innocent and acquitted him of all charges. On 9 February 2014, Kyprianou staged a political comeback as he was elected Deputy President of the Democratic Party in Cyprus. == Professional C.V. ==