A teenager would do well to look to 97-year-old Constantinos Georgiades for lessons in perseverance.
The University of Cyprus’ oldest-ever graduate did not get his high school diploma until he was 80, failed his university entrance exams twice before being accepted at age 89 and was finally awarded his degree in sociology on Tuesday. Georgiades’ graduation made it to Euronews. “His achievement is testament to a lifelong passion for learning,” the report said.
But his academic journey doesn’t end here. He now hopes to acquire a law degree.
He said he decided to study sociology to help benefit society.
“For a better society, the focus should be on women. They are the ones who bear children. If this does not happen, and if a woman is not strengthened to raise good people, how will a society prosper?” Georgiades asked.
Born in 1919 in Kokkinotrimithia, a rural area in the Nicosia district, Georgiades, like many of his generation, had a turbulent life scarred by wars and uncertainty. But from a young age, he wanted to see the world.
“My parents were living in the village but I moved to Nicosia very young to be educated,” he said.
He spent the World War II years abroad, first working for a company selling groceries that landed him on the border between Egypt and Libya and then signing up as a volunteer with the British army.
After returning to Cyprus in 1948, he decided to set up his own business.
“I wanted to deal with fruit and vegetable juices. I realised the high nutritional benefits of Cyprus’ agricultural products and along with others, we set up a company with the aim of exporting juice abroad,” Georgiades said.
In 1973, he and his business partners begun building their factory in the Kokkinotrimithia industrial area. “A wing was completed, but construction was halted in 1974 due to the invasion,” he said.
After plans for the operation of the factory faltered, Georgiades was left with a CY£25,000 debt. To pay it back, he was forced to become a salesman.
Between 1974 and 1985, when I paid off my debt, I was using a refrigerated truck our company had bought to travel around Nicosia and rural areas to sell fresh fruit juice and foodstuff. Anything they needed, I brought,” he said.
He remembers how women used to avoid buying the fresh grape juice he was selling.
“It was sweet and they were afraid they would gain weight. I used to tell them that the sweetness in the juice is natural, and that it had other beneficial qualities and they slowly started buying it.”
His love for learning led him to take two road trips around Europe twice in the 1960s “to see other cultures, and to compare”.
“The first time I set off from Mersin in Turkey and from there to Ankara, Istanbul, Greece, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, Italy, France, England, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Czechoslovakia. The second time I set off from the Greek port of Piraeus,” he said.
After paying off his debt in 1985 he went back to high school and graduated in 1990, and then took private lessons to pass the university entrance exams.
“I tried a few times but did not succeed. I got into the university in 2009,” he said.
Now he is ready to take classes at the UCy’s Law school in September.
“The law has to be renewed every few years according to technology. Our legislation is lagging today and has shortcomings.”
Despite the huge age gap, he described his relations with fellow students as very good.
As an elder, he could not resist the temptation of offering them advice.
“I was advising them that if they want to keep their good health they had to have a good diet, and to avoid staying up late. The best sleep is between 10pm and 5am,” he said.
Sensible suggestions, but the age and priorities of the average student make it unlikely many heeded his advice.
Georgiades never married and lives alone in a flat in the town centre. “I had other family obligations, I thought I’d wait to sort these issues out before settling, but unfortunately it didn’t happen”.
Despite his age, he walks well without any assistance and he says he takes no medication, all due to his healthy diet.
“I live on pulses. I do not eat meat because for it to be nutritious, animals must graze in the fields. Nowadays they feed them with synthetic food,” he said.
He added that he doesn’t smoke and the only time he consumes alcohol is when he feels a cold coming on. “I drink half a shot of zivania to kill the germs and the cold.” He eats lemon with every meal.
“I have always had this opinion, that diet is important for good health. I’m at the age I am today and I don’t take any medication. Have you heard anyone over 70 who doesn’t need some sort of medication? I thank God, I don’t need any and I hope I never will,” Georgiades said.
Cyprus Mail