Phileleftheros will distribute a free 220-page anniversary edition rich in visual material and testimonies to all readers on Sunday, 7 December 2025, marking 70 years since its first issue.
The historic newspaper has fought its battles in the media space for seven decades, guided by the promise it made to readers in its first issue on 7 December 1955: “In the service of the Cypriot people”.
That phrase was chosen as the title for the anniversary album to be distributed with the Sunday Phileleftheros on 7 December 2025, the newspaper’s birthday.
Explaining the thinking behind the book, publisher Nikos Chr. Pattichis writes in the prologue: “Publishing this book and distributing it free to the thousands of Sunday ‘Ph’ readers on 7 December 2025 was essential, with the generous support of XM company, which we warmly thank. There are two main reasons for implementing this edition: first, to commemorate all those who contributed, staff, journalists, and members of the administrative and technical personnel. And second, to evaluate the progress so far of the Journalistic Organisation ‘O Phileleftheros’”.
The evolution of Phileleftheros from a six-page newspaper into a media conglomerate is striking—multilevel and multithematic, with dozens of magazine titles to its credit, three radio stations, web portals, electronic apps and more.
According to the book’s author, Chrysanthos Chrysanthou, the decision by Nikos Chr. Pattichis, grandfather of the current publisher, may have truly brought good fortune.
He chose to spend his name day on 6 December 1955 at the “Kosmos” printing house instead of at home receiving friends bearing gifts and wishes. Publishing a morning daily newspaper had been his dream since graduating from Athens University Law School and returning to Cyprus in 1932.
His previous publishing attempts were short-lived, except for the “Esperini” newspaper in 1937, which was the first daily afternoon newspaper in Cyprus. Despite adverse conditions during the liberation struggle of 1955-1959, Nikos Chr. Pattichis was vindicated for his daring and the risk he took.
Since then, Phileleftheros made invaluable contributions to all the Cypriot people’s struggles: against colonialism from 1955-1959 for Cyprus’s freedom, against the junta to defend the Republic from terrorist organisations such as Ethniko and EOKA B, to protect the country from foreign machinations, and from 1974 for liberation from the yoke of Turkish occupation.
Phileleftheros faced many difficulties and dangers to reach recognition, with three successive generations at the helm. Initially there was founder Nikos Chr. Pattichis and later his son, Christoforos Pattichis.
In the 1980s, Christoforos Pattichis led Phileleftheros into the new era of modern technology, adding offset printing, consigning linotype machines and liquefied hot lead to the museum of history.
He was succeeded by Myrto Markidou and Nikos Chr. Pattichis, grandchildren of the founder, who propelled Phileleftheros to unimaginable heights for Cyprus’s standards in the digital technology era.
Celebrating its 70th anniversary, Phileleftheros opens a new chapter in its history with a strategic partnership with successful Cypriot businessman Costas Kleanthous, who shared common visions with Nikos Chr. Pattichis for the Journalistic Organisation’s future and for the media’s mission more generally. Specific plans have already been drawn up and are gradually being implemented.
The entire historical journey of Phileleftheros up to the present is summarised in the book “70 years Phileleftheros. In the service of the Cypriot people,” researched, written and edited by Chrysanthos Chrysanthou, with artistic editing by Michalis Mithillou and creative execution by Niki Andreou.
The book contains rich visual material, documents and photographs, as well as revealing testimonies about the Organisation’s internal processes during its development and its relationship with Cypriot society.
The book constitutes a small symbolic gift to everyone, especially to Phileleftheros’s loyal readers, to all those who respond positively when Phileleftheros is mentioned, saying, “Ah, it’s my newspaper! My father brought it home from the first day it was published”.
Phileleftheros safeguards this timeless relationship of love, appreciation and trust as the apple of its eye, as evident from the rich content of the anniversary edition.