Demetris Pierides has spent more than half a century building museums and cultural institutions across Cyprus and Greece, driven by a belief that what one generation inherits should be preserved for those that follow.
The founder of the Pierides Foundation told en.philenews that the organisation has helped create nine cultural centres, including museums, galleries and an art history library – five in Cyprus and four in Greece – often in partnership with local authorities.
Among them are the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre (NiMAC), housed in the capital’s former power station (The Old Powerhouse) which also houses the Pierides History of Art Library, the Pierides Museum in Larnaca, the Avgorou Ethnographic Museum and the Thalassa Museum in Ayia Napa, where a replica of the world-famous ancient Kyrenia ship is displayed.
The Foundation was established in June 1974, just one month before the Turkish invasion. Much of the family property he had intended to use to support its work was in Famagusta.
“85% of my property was lost in Famagusta, on a Thursday morning,” he said. And, despite everything lost in 1974, there is still one project he hopes to see realised. One day, he told en.philenews, he would like to establish another museum “in a free Famagusta”.
Despite the losses, the Foundation continued to expand its work, organising exhibitions abroad and sending Cypriot antiquities overseas to promote the island’s culture.
For Pierides, however, building museums was only part of the task. Ensuring they would survive beyond the people who created them was equally important.
“It is a heavy responsibility, and I will do everything to continue the work,” he said.
He now works alongside his nephew, Peter Ashdjian, at the Pierides Museum and with the Foundation’s other institutions.
Pierides said he deliberately sought an institutional arrangement for the Larnaca museum rather than leaving its future solely in the hands of relatives.
“I didn’t want to leave it only to people close to me, who care today but might not one day,” he said.
“So, we linked it to the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation. I think we’ve protected it forever.”
The idea of turning family wealth into something with a lasting public purpose is not new to the wider Pierides family.
One example is the Arxontikon on Larnaca’s Finikoudes seafront, built by Ioannis Pierides, who belonged to another branch of the family.
His daughter, Evanthia Pieridou, one of the city’s major benefactors, later bequeathed the mansion under an arrangement through which rental income, after expenses, is used for “the needs of Larnaca Hospital’s poorest patients”.
Pierides described the charitable work of the wider family, which also included support for institutions serving the poor and elderly.
The Pierides family’s connection with Larnaca stretches back generations. Pierides traces its roots to Zakynthos and the Ionian Islands, with members of the family later becoming merchants, collectors and consular representatives in Cyprus.
Successive generations also helped assemble the collection now housed at the Pierides Museum, covering thousands of years of Cypriot history.
Pierides said the purpose of preserving the collections has always been to pass them on rather than simply keep them within the family. Asked whether safeguarding them for future generations was central to his work, his answer was immediate.
“Of course,” he said. “That’s why we did it.”
