Eleni Mavrou was born in Kyrenia in 1961. Ms Mavrou studied Civil Engineering at the Higher Technical Institute in Nicosia and received a BSc degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of London. In the municipal elections of 2006 she ran as the candidate of the municipal Coalition which united the three parties of AKEL, DIKO, and EDEK. She was elected Mayor of Nicosia and took office on 2 January 2007. In 2001 she was elected in Nicosia to be among AKEL’s members of the House of Representatives, and was reelected to the same position in 2006. She served as President of the House Committee on the Environment and a member of the House Committees on Internal Affairs and Human Rights. She was a member of the European Convention on the Future of the European Union, and in 2003 was appointed by the House of Representatives as a Cyprus observer at the European Parliament. After Cyprus’s accession to the European Union and until the elected Cyprus Members of the European Parliament took office, Ms Mavrou represented Cyprus at the European Parliament. Ms Mavrou has been conferred the Knight of the Order of Merit by the Government of France, and has been awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Sash by the Republic of Austria in acknowledgement of her services.