Introduction
After several years of trying, in December 1971, Hagop Keheyan, a prominent Cypriot Armenian, along with nine other prominent Cypriots, registered “The Cyprus Anticancer Society.” At that time, the society said little about the links between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Then in September 1977, Keheyan chaired a meeting which established the “Committee for the Campaign Against Smoking.” This finally led to the formation of the “Non-Smokers League” and the first anti-smoking law in 1980.Footnote 1
Cyprus was quite late to establish an anti-cancer society, as other similar Commonwealth and neighboring states had established theirs many years, in some cases decades, earlier, such as Italy in 1927, Turkey in 1947, Sri Lanka in 1948, India in 1951, Israel in 1952, Jamaica in 1955, Greece in 1958, Malaysia in 1966 and Nigeria in 1968. Why was Cyprus so late to establish one, and why did it take almost a decade after doing so for an anti-smoking league and anti-smoking laws to appear?
To answer this question, this study establishes the long history of dependence in Cyprus on the cigarette industry and cigarette smoking. This predates independence in 1960 from British rule and thus originates during the colonial period. This article focuses on how dependence on the industry continued during the first decades of the Republic, especially because of the duopoly created by Carreras-Rothmans and British American Tobacco (BAT) with local companies. The prominence of these companies saw the continued high rates of cigarette smoking, especially through their promotion of cigarettes, and a limited public discussion around anti-smoking that was emerging elsewhere. Thus, before discussing the emergence, first of the anti-cancer society in 1971 and then the Non-Smokers League in 1980, the main section is separated into three parts to explain the three reasons why Cyprus was late to establish an anti-cancer society: (1) the dominance of the cigarette manufacturing industry during the first decades of the Republic and connections “big” international tobacco, and to the government; (2) their significant promotion of cigarettes and the prevalence of smoking; and (3) the limited anti-smoking messages and debates, that only emerged just prior to the formation of the Non-Smokers League in 1980. The first reason was the primary one for the delay in forming anti-cancer and anti-smoking societies, because the dominance of the “big tobacco” companies after merging with local companies was total.
The literature on the history of public health in Cyprus is scant. As pointed out elsewhere, the focus of historical research has been on the Cyprus conflict to the detriment of other themes in Cypriot history.Footnote 2 In recent years, there has been more research into other aspects of Cypriot history, from migration and the diaspora to its roles in the two world wars.Footnote 3 Some research has been published on public health, such as on the efforts during British rule to eradicate tuberculosis, malaria and venereal diseases.Footnote 4 Recently, a start has been made on the history of smoking and its links to imperialism and “big tobacco,”Footnote 5 and this article seeks to further build on that work and bring it forward into the postcolonial period.
This article fills a gap in the history of the Cypriot tobacco-growing and cigarette manufacturing industries and examines the significance of international, multinational “big tobacco” companies. It builds on a recent article that focused upon the last four decades of the British colonial period, namely 1920–1960. That article showed how, during the last four decades of British colonial rule, the “big” tobacco companies, namely BAT and Carreras-Rothmans, slowly increased their stake in and penetration of the cigarette industry, from cultivation and purchase of the leaf, to importation of their cigarettes and, finally, to cigarette manufacturing itself. Meanwhile, the prevalence of smoking among Cypriots increased, even when in the 1950s the links between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer were known and the UK started to act, but in Cyprus the colonial government only encouraged the industry and the habit.Footnote 6 The article also found that in Cyprus prosumption as glocalization occurred, but differently to its closest market in Egypt, where a different cigarette manufacturing duopoly developed.Footnote 7 This current article shifts the story to the first decades of Cypriot independence, showing how the duopoly emerged between two international multinational companies, BAT (and its subsidiary, Ardath) and Carreras-Rothmans, as they had merged with local companies, Dianellos & Vergopoulos, and A.G. Patiki, respectively, to monopolize the industry. This development allowed for a more systematic promotion of cigarette smoking in the 1970s, particularly through sponsorship of social and cultural events, further increasing the prevalence of smoking among Cypriots.
Most of the theories identified to explain how the “big tobacco” industry promoted smoking are evident in the case study of Cyprus. These theories include the idea that tobacco companies manipulate social norms and exploit vulnerabilities of specific groups (like youth). Specifically, the following theories are evident in the case of Cyprus. (1) Social norms manipulation, in which tobacco companies aim to normalize smoking by associating it with positive social cues and cultural trends through such means as sponsorship of sporting and cultural events, effectively making it seem like a socially accepted behavior. (2) Targeted marketing and exploitation, whereby tobacco companies utilize targeted marketing strategies to reach specific demographics, including youth and low-income and low-educated populations, who may be more susceptible to smoking. (3) The above two strategies come together in a sophisticated and well-organized and funded public relations campaign, in which tobacco companies portray themselves as socially responsible. (4) Through political influence, which sees tobacco companies actively creating relationships with government by framing themselves as an industry that is economically necessary and socially responsible, especially with newly established states.Footnote 8 What makes Cyprus an interesting case is that the strategies of the “big tobacco” companies were not operating as a counter to public health efforts because there were no such efforts until the early 1980s. This helps to understand the belated formation of the Non-Smokers League in 1980.
This study also contributes to the growing awareness of a democratic deficit that has plagued the Republic of Cyprus since its independence in 1960. It has been previously established that the democratic deficit that has plagued the Republic after independence and the partition that occurred in December 1963, which saw the Greek Cypriot leadership represent the Republic and the Turkish Cypriots become an internationally unrecognized political entity, has its roots in stunted political modernity that developed during the British colonial period. This saw the demographic majoritarian ethno-religious nationalism of the Greek Cypriots dominate over a partnership state with the demographic minority, the Turkish Cypriots, leading to civil war in December 1963. This was left unresolved and led to the partition in 1974 after the Greek coup and Turkish landings. While colonialism was a major cause, so too was the Greek Cypriot insistence on enosis, union with Greece. This continued even after independence, with the domination of Greek Cypriot politics and society by EOKA people and ideals behind the pro-enosis violence from 1955 to 59, which has been established in the literature as Eokatokratia, a play on Turkokratia, held by the Turks under Ottoman times, to being held by EOKA after independence.Footnote 9 This article adds to this understanding of a democratic deficit by further showing how the conflict contributed to a lack of a public health anti-smoking policy until 1980, twenty years after independence. This is in the background, as the connections between the government and the industry, and the government and the high rates of smoking, are evidenced.
The primary sources consulted were mainly the records of the Truth Tobacco Industry Archive and the Cyprus Newspaper Archive, both of which have been digitized. The Truth Tobacco Industry Archive (housed at the University of California, San Francisco) holds immense value as a critical, public-facing repository of millions of formerly secret internal corporate documents. Its primary value lies in revealing tobacco industry internal strategies, scientific research, and marketing tactics, as well as its strategies to counter public health concerns and policies. This study has found that, in the case of Cyprus, there was no evidence of any strategy to combat an anti-smoking movement on the island because one did not exist until the late 1970s, and that the movement which emerged was limited. The Cyprus Newspaper Archive, which supports this argument, is the digitized newspapers belonging to the Public Information Office of the Republic of Cyprus. This is a massive repository, available to the public for research purposes. It was used extensively in this article as the basis for information provided to the public about the public activities of the cigarette companies, the government, and especially for advertising of cigarette brands and sponsorship of sporting events. The newspapers also proved important in reconstructing the story of the formation of the Anti-Cancer Society and the Non-Smokers League and the persons behind both, as well as for showing that no pressure had been brought to bear on the cigarette companies (or the government) before this. Both English and Greek language newspapers were consulted, but the Cyprus Mail was clearly the most consistently interested in reporting on the subject from all the various angles.
Background
The widespread smoking of cigarettes was largely a twentieth-century phenomenon. Before mechanization, production was by hand and tobacco was smoked more in pipes, water-pipes (nargile), cigars and cigarillos, but the smoke was not usually inhaled. Early cigarettes were wrapped in various materials, from leaves to newspapers. This changed with the invention of machine-made cigarettes by James Buchanan Duke, of the US company W. Duke & Sons & Co. in the early 1880s. This led to the rapid and cheap manufacture of cigarettes, making them affordable and allowing them to spread easily worldwide through a large global industry. Unlike smoking a pipe, which needs to be constantly relit and repacked, and usually cannot be smoked while working (because the tobacco would fall out and one would need to constantly stop to refill and relight), cigarettes could be smoked all day, and easily while working. The combination of cigarettes being accessible and convenient, and that they were inhaled, meant that they had a different impact on the health of those who smoked them. Adding to their detrimental health impact was the fact that while all tobacco leaves contain some nicotine (some more than others, for example, Cypriot Latakia contains one of the least), cigarette manufacturers were able to add more nicotine and other harmful chemicals to cigarettes, making them more damaging and addictive than the natural leaves smoked in a pipe. It is telling that there were only a small number of articles in the Cypriot press from the 1920s to the 1960s mentioning or advertising pipe tobacco.Footnote 10
By the late nineteenth century, cigarettes were known as coffin nails, but the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer was not made until the mid-twentieth century. The first to make the link were Nazi scientists, leading to the first anti-smoking movement in Nazi Germany.Footnote 11 In 1950, the British researchers Professors William Doll and Austin Hill published the first scientific study linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer, which began to shift the attitudes against cigarette smoking in the Western world.Footnote 12 By 1953, there were warnings in the UK about the danger of cigarette smoking.Footnote 13 In 1954, a UK Medical Committee appointed by Whitehall warned that excessive smoking of cigarettes was linked to lung cancer and that youth should be warned about this.Footnote 14 Later in the year, the US researchers Hammond and Horn confirmed the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.Footnote 15 Cartwright noted, however, that official policy responses to this information were gradual, with British and American tobacco companies initially deflecting questions of health, as did certain scientists, many of whom are now suspected of collusion with the industry.Footnote 16 Various national research organizations recommended anti-cigarette measures, such as the Australian National Research Medical Research Council from 1957, but governments, such as the Australian one, refused to act, claiming it was a personal choice.Footnote 17 In 1962, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in the UK released an expert committee review into smoking and health, which concluded that cigarette smoking was a cause of lung cancer.Footnote 18 Thereafter, governments began to introduce measures to discourage cigarette smoking.
Cyprus, however, did not take any anti-smoking steps until 1980, almost a decade after the Anticancer Society formed and soon after the Non-Smokers League appeared. As mentioned above, this was some years after many former British colonies and countries in the eastern Mediterranean had done so. This partly explains why today Cyprus has one of the highest rates of smoking in the world. It is difficult to be statistically precise about this owing in part to the lack of data for the 1960s and 1970s, partly because of the on-and-off violence on the island from 1955, culminating in the war of 1974, and partly because of the integration of the cigarette industry with government and society.Footnote 19 The first statistics for cigarette smoking rates are from 1989, when a random sample of 4,422 households were asked about the smoking behavior of those aged 15 and over found that 23.8 percent were cigarette smokers, broken into 41.6 percent being men and 7.2 percent being women.Footnote 20 The significant difference between male and female smoking rates was perhaps more pronounced in a society such as Cyprus, where there was a significant social stigma against women smokers, who were restricted to urban areas and perhaps those villages in which tobacco was grown. The first time the cause of death was recorded in the Republic of Cyprus was in 1997, when there were 63 deaths caused by lung cancer, 52 men and 11 women.Footnote 21 This contrasts with 2021 statistics, when 326 died due to lung cancer, 248 men and 78 women.Footnote 22 This was a dramatic increase, given the estimated population of the Republic of Cyprus (Greek-Cypriot-controlled) was about 580,000 in 1990 and 905,000 in 2021. An EU report in 2012 found that 30 percent of Cypriots in the Republic of Cyprus regularly smoked cigarettes, which was higher than the average in the EU of 28 percent.Footnote 23 Statistics from 2019 confirmed that the Republic of Cyprus remained at the top end of EU countries for smoking, ranking sixth out of twenty-seven with 21.2 percent of Cypriots (in the Republic of Cyprus) being daily smokers, and ranking fourth for heavy smokers (smoking over twenty cigarettes a day).Footnote 24 Statistics for the prevalence of smoking among Turkish Cypriots in the northern part of the island reveal even higher smoking levels.Footnote 25 The overall picture for the island was therefore closer to 35 percent, which aligns with World Health Organization (WHO) data, bringing Cypriots above the populations of Greece and Turkey, which have about 33 percent and 31 percent respectively of their population as smokers.Footnote 26 As an EU member, the Republic of Cyprus has some of the strongest anti-smoking measures, yet these are rarely enforced by authorities or adhered to by the population.Footnote 27
The high cigarette smoking rates in Cyprus are connected to a long history of tobacco cultivation, and cigarette importation and manufacturing that pre-date Cypriot independence. Tobacco was cultivated in select parts of Cyprus from at least the eighteenth century, but it was inconsistent. The first cigarette manufacturer, Dianellos, was formed in 1864 by Greek settlers. A second factory was built in Nicosia in 1881, and in 1905 it separated and became Dianellos & Vergopoulos (while in Larnaca it remained as Dianellos). A third major factory, A.G. Patiki, known locally as Takis Patiki, was formed in Limassol in 1888. These and other smaller manufacturers almost exclusively used imported tobacco from Macedonia, Anatolia and Syria. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the British attempted to revitalize tobacco growing, but it did not begin to thrive until the 1920s. Still, most of the tobacco leaf produced on the island, mainly “Yellow-leaf” (Oriental or Turkish, mostly Samsun and Smyrna varieties) with smaller quantities of “Cyprian” Latakia (first grown in Cyprus during the Great War by Syrian refugees), also referred to as “fumigated tobacco,” and used mostly in pipe tobacco blends, was primarily exported to the UK. Also, by the 1920s, most of the cigarettes smoked in Cyprus were imported from the UK and, to a lesser extent, from Turkey, Egypt, and Greece. Two large international companies emerged as the importers. From 1922, the cigarettes of Carreras of London Ltd. were imported by Melik Melikian, who had a store, “Black Cat” (the brand name of Carreras), on Ledra Street in central Nicosia, and made Craven A, launched by Carreras in 1921, the most popular cigarette in Cyprus. Meanwhile, BAT, through its subsidiary Ardath Tobacco Company, had Panayiotis M. Tseriotis, based in Nicosia, import popular BAT and Ardath brands such as Ardath Cork Tipped and State Express 333 and State Express 555. In the mid-1930s, the colonial government attempted to increase tobacco cultivation by granting a monopoly to the British company, Cyprus Tobacco Company, but the monopoly nearly destroyed tobacco cultivation because it created an excess of leaf that the growers were prevented from selling overseas, and the contract was ended in 1940. Cultivation increased during World War II because shipping was limited and the government forced local manufacturers to use the locally grown tobacco, and most continued to use at least some in their blends after the war. Then in 1951 BAT-Ardath created the Ardath Tobacco Company (Cyprus) Ltd. and built a factory in Nicosia to produce its various brands in Cyprus. After the demise of the Cyprus Tobacco Company, Rothmans of London Ltd. took over its interests, becoming a major buyer of Cypriot tobacco, but it was not until 1959 that it became a major importer to Cyprus. In that year, Garanis & Petrides became the sole importers of Rothmans and Dunhill cigarettes to Cyprus, and linked with Melikian and Takis Patiki, since Carreras and Rothmans had become sister companies after they had merged in 1958. The development of tobacco cultivation, cigarette manufacturing and imported foreign cigarettes only increased the incidence of cigarette smoking among Cypriots. In 1930 a colonial government report found that at least 51 percent of both Greek and Turkish Cypriot adult males smoked and “very few people smoke in moderation.” In 1949 it was estimated that 18,000 okesFootnote 28 of cigarettes were consumed in Cyprus per month, with 14,000 of these being English cigarettes, and the rest locally made or imported Oriental cigarettes. In 1956 it was stated that thanks to the addiction of Cypriots to cigarettes, the cigarette manufacturing industry in Cyprus was worth over £1 million, making it one of the largest industries in the island.Footnote 29
The Cigarette Industry, Smoking, and Anti-Smoking in Republican Cyprus
Cyprus became an independent republic in 1960. By the end of 1963, civil war had gripped the island, and it was effectively partitioned between Greek- and Turkish Cypriot-controlled areas, which for the latter were enclaves until the war in 1974 created the current division.Footnote 30 Despite the conflict and the increasing awareness of the links between cigarette smoking and cancer, the cigarette industry flourished during this period; the rates of smoking remained exceedingly high, owing to the heavy promotion of cigarette smoking, and there were limited anti-smoking messages.
The Tobacco Industry in Republican Cyprus, 1960–1980
In the first years of the Republic and before the civil war, which began in December 1963, changes occurred in the tobacco industry that strengthened the links between local companies and international tobacco, which saw a duopoly established. This made the international tobacco companies, namely BAT-Ardath and Carreras-Rothmans, the only players in the Cypriot cigarette industry, and secured the futures of two local manufacturers, Takis Patiki and Dianellos & Vergopoulos.
A few months before Cyprus became independent in August 1960, the local cigarette manufacturers feared they would be ruined after a massive leak of NAAFI cigarettes onto the open market. In the Zurich-London Accords that granted Cyprus independence, about 4 percent, 99 square miles of the island would be retained by the UK as sovereign territory to form two bases. These two territories became “little colonies,” the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and NAAFI continued to operate in these.Footnote 31 Athos Patiki, the director of Takis Patiki, outlined the problems of local cigarette companies. The leak of NAAFI cigarettes meant that Cypriots smoking locally made cigarettes might come to like and switch to the foreign brands because they were only marginally more expensive. Patiki wanted the government to protect the local cigarette manufacturers by ensuring that such a leak did not recur and by not allowing more cigarette manufacturers to start up, because the current seven could produce enough cigarettes for a population of 1.5m, well above the current population. The Cyprus Mail found that the importation of NAAFI cigarettes had remained steady, yet the number of troops had been reduced, so the excess cigarettes were entering the local market. It also found that the importation of foreign cigarettes was going up “alarmingly,” giving “great concern to local manufacturers.”Footnote 32
A.G. Patiki took the first steps to secure its future when it announced in March 1961 that it would now produce the internationally and locally popular Craven A in its factory for both local and international, especially Middle East, markets. The government approved, since its revenues would increase and jobs would be created, including in the manufacture of the packaging, which would be the same as those produced in London (see Figures 1 and 2). To ensure that the Craven A cigarettes produced in Cyprus were identical with those produced in London, a supervisor from Carreras was based in Cyprus.Footnote 33 The release of the Cypriot-made Craven A cigarettes caused a “run” on retailers, who ran out of them within two weeks, and Takis Patiki was prevented from producing more when the shipment of tobacco was held up in customs. This was connected to a meeting between the Minister of Trade and Industries, Andreas Araouzos, Takis Patiki, and three competing cigarette manufacturers who opposed Craven A being made in Cyprus, and the matter then went before President Makarios.Footnote 34 Makarios, a borderline chain-smoker in private, gave the green light, and 12 months later, a party at Ledra Palace celebrated the first year of manufacture of Craven A in Cyprus by Takis Patiki and distributed by Melik Melikian & Co. The host, R.M. Wheeler, the Middle East Manager of Carreras, announced that Takis Patiki would also manufacture Piccadilly No. 1. In a few years it added Dunhill brands, while also continuing to make its Balkan-style blends from Greek tobacco, such as “Koronis.” Wheeler explained that Carreras had entered similar partnerships where they had factories in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Rhodesia, Malta and Fiji—all parts of the British empire/Commonwealth. Local resources were thus used to develop these industries, while Carreras provided the technical knowledge, machinery, research facilities and access to world markets.Footnote 35 In March 1967 Viscount Brookeborough, the chairman of Carreras of Northern Ireland, visited Cyprus at the invitation of Gerald Parker, the General Manager of Carreras Ltd in Cyprus, meeting Carreras staff, Stelios Garanis of Takis Patiki, Melikian, and President Makarios.Footnote 36 In June 1967, Takis Patiki announced that it was changing its name to Garanis and Petrides Ltd.Footnote 37 Then in July 1968, Alan Dover, the general manager of Carreras in Cyprus, announced the creation of a new company in Cyprus, Carreras of Cyprus Ltd. The board of directors comprised Stelios Garanis, Melik Melikian, and Pavlakis Pavlou, an EOKA area commander and then MP for the right-wing United Democratic Reconstruction Front (EDMA) in Famagusta.Footnote 38 In the financial year ending 30 June 1968, Carreras Ltd. in London had increased its previous year’s profits by 47 percent, which it attributed to its ability to dispatch cigarettes to over 140 countries, and its international foothold, such as in Cyprus.Footnote 39 In April 1969, the chairman of Carreras of London, Philip Bulpitt, announced that Carreras planned to further expand, and a month later he announced plans to build a new £500,000 factory in Malta to bring its enterprises there onto the same footing as in Cyprus, Jamaica and Fiji.Footnote 40 The popularity of Carreras cigarettes made in Cyprus increased in the ensuing years, capturing a sizeable percentage of the market.Footnote 41
Packet of Craven A from Cyprus (I).
Source: © Author personal collection.
Figure 1. Long description
The unfolded carton is divided into several panels.
At the top is a red flap with the text 20 and LONG SIZE FILTER printed in gold.
Below this is the main red front panel featuring the brand name CRAVEN "A" twice in white serif font.
The central cream-colored panel contains a black cat logo above a paragraph of text describing the history of the brand, mentioning the third Earl of Craven and Carreras in the 1860s. Below the text, it states MADE UNDER SUPERVISION FOR CARRERAS L T D LONDON BY GARANIS and PETRIDES L T D NICOSIA.
Further down, a red oval contains the brand name CRAVEN "A" in white.
The bottom section features a larger red oval with CRAVEN "A" and the word VIRGINIA above it.
The side flaps include various markings such as the number 16, a small circular logo, a plus sign, and the vertical text CRAVEN "A" FILTER. Small identification codes like J N 5330 and 1068 D are printed on the far left edges.
Packet of Craven A from Cyprus (II).
Source: © Author personal collection.
Figure 2. Long description
The unfolded cardboard packaging is divided into several sections.
At the top is the main front panel, featuring a large red oval with a gold border containing the word CRAVEN in white capital letters above A in quotation marks. Below the oval, the word VIRGINIA is printed in gold, followed by CARRERAS LTD. LONDON in small black text.
Moving down to the center section, which serves as the back of the pack, there is a smaller version of the red CRAVEN A logo. Below this is a paragraph of italicized black text detailing the history of the brand, mentioning the Earl of Craven and the 1860s. Above the text is a small black cat icon labeled TRADE MARK.
The bottom half of the image consists of the red base and side flaps. The central red panel features the number 20 in gold above the words LONG SIZE FILTER.
Side panels include vertical text reading CRAVEN A FILTER and technical codes such as 1068 D and J N 5330. A small circular logo for COUVAS is visible on a white side tab. The overall color scheme is cream, red, and gold.
BAT was not about to let Carreras dominate the market, making its own moves to secure its interests in Cyprus. In 1961 it expanded its production line at the Ardath factory in Nicosia, producing “Players,” “Matinee,” “Savoy,” “Standard Express 333,” and “Standard Express 555.”Footnote 42 In 1962, the general manager of Ardath in Cyprus, Charles B. Osborne, announced that it was conducting experiments in growing Virginia type tobacco in Cyprus, which, if successful, would halve the imported Virginia tobacco needed to make its various brands.Footnote 43 In March 1962, the main figure behind the Ardath Tobacco Factory, Panayiotis Tseriotis, died aged 82, opening the way for major change for Ardath and BAT in Cyprus.Footnote 44 This major change was being hatched from the summer of 1962, when a number of senior executives of BAT in London, including the director, L.H.M. Mason, visited Cyprus to meet with Ardath directors Lellos Tseriotis (son of Panayiotis) and Paul Mardirossian, and senior government officials, including President Makarios and Vice-President Dr Fazil Küçük, himself a heavy smoker.Footnote 45 The big change was announced in October 1963: from 1 January 1964 Ardath Tobacco Co. (Cyprus) would “merge” with Dianellos & Vergopoulos Ltd. In effect, Ardath Tobacco Co. (Cyprus) would cease to exist, since the merged company would have the name Dianellos & Vergopoulos Ltd. The president of the new company would be Alecos Damtsas, the director of Dianellos & Vergopoulos, and the Managing Director would be Osborne, from Ardath, with other company directors from both companies. The “merger” mutually benefited both companies in battling Carreras, since it would combine the strengths of both: the expertise of Dianellos & Vergopoulos in making Balkan-style cigarettes and Ardath’s skills in making Virginia-blended cigarettes. The new company would continue to make popular brands from both, namely “Sport,” “Ellas,” “Manhattan,” “Lucky Dream” (see Figure 3), and “Hilarion” from Dianellos & Vergopoulos, and from Ardath “Players Medium,” “Filter Players,” “Matinee,” “Standard Express 333,” and “Standard Express 555 Filter Kings” (see Figures 4 and 5). This meant that Cypriot tobacco continued to be purchased to make the Dianellos & Vergopoulos brands. Both factories would operate as before. This was a major coup for Dianellos & Vergopoulos, which celebrated its centenary in 1964, bringing it into the BAT family.Footnote 46 According to the BAT director’s report from 1968, the company shared a monopoly of the Cypriot tobacco market with other major companies (i.e., Carreras) through its 89 percent equity share in Dianellos & Vergopoulos.Footnote 47 By the late 1960s, Dianellos & Vergopoulos had a substantial stake in the industry, since in addition to making cigarettes, its own brands and BAT-Ardath, it also increased its interests as an importer. By 1969, it had replaced Panos Constantinides as the importer of the popular Papastratos Greek cigarettes.Footnote 48 In April 1969, Dianellos & Vergopoulos announced that it would construct a new factory in Nicosia (see Figure 6), which became operational in January 1971; then, on 1 September 1972, Lellos Tseriotis was appointed director of the board, and in November 1973 the company announced that its relationship with BAT had been a massive financial success for it.Footnote 49
Packet of “Lucky Dream” Cigarettes.
Source: © Author personal collection.
Dianellos and Vergopoulos, cigarette prices, 26 October 1972.
Source: Cyprus Mail, 26 October 1972, 3.
Figure 4. Long description
A vertical document layout. At the top center is an oval logo containing the stylized letters D and V separated by an ampersand. Below this is the company name DIANELLOS AND VERGOPOULOS LIMITED. The main heading reads RETAIL PRICES OF CIGARETTES.
An introductory paragraph states: As a result of the recent excise duty increase on Tobacco imposed by the Government, the retail prices of our cigarettes are as follows—
The price list follows in two columns. The left column lists the brand and the right column lists the price in mils and the quantity.
• JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL DRUMS: 315 mils for 25
• JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL: 230 mils for 20
• PLAYERS PLAIN: 240 mils for 24
• PLAYERS PLAIN: 120 mils for 12
• BENSON & HEDGES SPECIAL FILTER: 200 mils for 20
• PLAYERS PERFECTOS KING SIZE FILTER: 180 mils for 20
• S E 555 KING SIZE FILTER: 180 mils for 20
• S E 555 KING SIZE FILTER: 125 mils for 14
• FILTER PLAYERS: 175 mils for 20
• FILTER PLAYERS: 125 mils for 14
• MATINEE FILTER: 175 mils for 20
• MATINEE FILTER: 125 mils for 14
• DU MAURIER KING SIZE FILTER: 175 mils for 20
• PLAYERS No. 6 KING SIZE FILTER: 175 mils for 20
• EMBASSY FILTER: 170 mils for 20
• PAPASTRATOS FILTER: 165 mils for 20
• ARDATH FILTER: 150 mils for 20
• LUCKY DREAM: 150 mils for 20
• LUCKY DREAM: 105 mils for 14
• SPORT: 80 mils for 14
Below the list, a note states that there has not been any import duty increase on Imported Cigarettes, Cigars or Pipe Tobacco, and their prices remain unchanged. The bottom left is dated 24th Oct. 1972 and the bottom right is signed The Management.
Dianellos and Vergopoulos, cigarette prices, 26 May 1974.
Source: Cyprus Mail, 24 May 1974, 3.
Figure 5. Long description
A printed announcement organized into three vertical sections.
* Top section: The word Announcement is centered at the top. Below it is a logo consisting of an oval eye-like shape containing the stylized letters D ampersand V. Under the logo is the company name DIANELLOS ampersand VERGOPOULOS L T D dot.
* Middle section: A bold heading reads Revised new retail prices. Below this is a paragraph stating that after a recent duty or excise increase on cigarettes imposed by the Government, a further minor adjustment was approved by the Price Control Committee (Ministry of Commerce and Industry Ref: 123 forward slash D I I 17 forward slash 5 forward slash 74) for specific brands starting Monday, May 27.
* Bottom section: A list of six cigarette brands with their quantities and prices in mils.
1. MATINEE, 20’s, 200 mils.
2. FILTER PLAYERS, 20’s, 200 mils.
3. ARDATH, 20’s, 200 mils.
4. EMBASSY, 20’s, 200 mils.
5. PAPASTRATOS K dot S dot F dot T dot, 20’s, 200 mils.
6. SPORT, 14’s, 100 mils.
Note: Ditmarks are used in the price column for all entries after the first.
Dianellos and Vergopoulos factory plan, 1969.
Source: Συναγερμός, 28 April 1969, 2.
Figure 6. Long description
The architectural plan is presented as a three-dimensional perspective drawing of an industrial site.
* In the foreground at the bottom-left, there is a smaller, multi-level administrative or entrance building with a flat roof and prominent horizontal lines.
* Moving toward the center, a large, low-profile rectangular building with a sawtooth-style roof sits adjacent to a tall, thin vertical chimney stack.
* To the right of the center, a long, two-story rectangular warehouse or production wing extends toward the background, featuring a repetitive grid of windows along its side.
* In the background at the top-left, three large, identical industrial sheds with pitched roofs are arranged in a parallel row.
* The entire complex is situated on a flat plot with paved access roads and open loading areas between the various structures. The rendering uses high-contrast black and white tones typical of mid-century newspaper printing.
The third international tobacco company on the Cypriot scene was Rothmans. Rembrandt, another major international tobacco company, had bought a controlling share in Rothmans in 1954, and in Carreras in 1958. Consequently, in 1958, Rothmans, which had been established by Louis Rothman in London in 1909, merged with Carreras. The companies existed separately but also merged many aspects of their businesses, such as sharing the new factory built by Carreras in Basildon, Essex. By 1959 Rothmans had markets in over 120 countries, including Cyprus, with Garanis & Petrides importing various brands, such as “Rothmans King Size,” one of the most popular filtered cigarettes, which were sold by Victory stores in Nicosia and distributed to stores across the island.Footnote 50 Rothmans cigarettes were imported to Cyprus well into the 1960s.Footnote 51
While Carreras had made substantial moves into the Cypriot market from 1961, when it started producing Craven A at the factory of Takis Patiki, Rothmans made its first major move in 1969. In June 1969 Sydney Rothman, the chairman of Rothmans Ltd. and son of Louis Rothman, visited Cyprus and announced that Rothmans cigarettes would now be made at the factory of Garanis & Petrides, formerly Takis Patiki. This was a salvo against the growth of BAT in Cyprus, since it further united Carreras and Rothmans, and meant that Garanis & Petrides made both Craven A and Rothmans King Size Filtered, arguably two of the most popular cigarettes in the world.Footnote 52 Within months of introducing Rothmans King Size Filtered, demand in Cyprus outstripped all estimates, and material to make it was especially airfreighted in a rush in September 1969 to increase production, bypassing the usual regulations. As the Cyprus Mail commented, “the popularity of the cigarette (in Cyprus) is increasing at an unprecedented pace.”Footnote 53 The government immediately increased the tobacco duty, but Rothmans absorbed it because of the lower manufacturing costs. Soon Rothmans created Rothmans of Cyprus Ltd., which had as its managing director none other than Alan Dover, the managing director of Carreras of Cyprus Ltd.Footnote 54 Six months after announcing the manufacturing of its brands in Cyprus, Rothmans announced that it would manufacture a new cigarette in Cyprus for both the local and international market, “Royals” (see Figures 7 and 8). Dover revealed that Sydney Rothmans had closely overseen the new brand, which would have a lighter taste, and be sold for less than Rothmans King Size.Footnote 55 In 1973 Rothmans started making Consulate Menthol, the most popular menthol cigarette in the UK, and Rothmans International in Cyprus.Footnote 56 Then in 1979 Rothmans announced two new cigarettes would be made in Cyprus, Royals Extra Mild and Royals Ultra Mild.Footnote 57
Packet of Royals from Cyprus (I).
Source: © Author personal collection.
Figure 7. Long description
The photo shows a flat, unfolded cream-colored cardboard cigarette packet.
At the top is a small rectangular flap with the word Rothmans in cursive script.
Below this is a large panel featuring a red horizontal band with Rothmans in cursive and ROYALS in bold white capital letters. To the right of this band is a small circular logo.
In the center of the main panel is a gold crest featuring two lions flanking a red shield with a stylized R. Below the crest is a gold-bordered square containing the text: Rothmans Royals give you the light flavour of specially blended Virginia leaf. These King Size cigarettes are made to the high standards smokers expect from Rothmans, known for fine tobacco since 1890. The word ROTHMANS appears in red below this, followed by smaller text stating: MADE UNDER SUPERVISION FOR ROTHMANS OF PALL MALL BY GARANIS AND PETRIDES LTD, NICOSIA.
Further down is another red horizontal band with the words Rothmans ROYALS printed upside down.
At the bottom is a large red square panel with a diagonal blue stripe. It features a larger version of the gold lion crest and shield. Below this, the text VIRGINIA FILTER CIGARETTES and ROYALS are printed upside down.
On the side flaps, there are various markings including the number 25, the number 1770, the number 261081, and the text 20 ROTHMANS ROYALS. One side flap contains a red-bordered health warning box with text in Greek and Turkish.
Packet of Royals from Cyprus (II).
Source: © Author personal collection.
Figure 8. Long description
The photo shows a flat, unfolded cigarette carton.
At the top is a cream-colored flap with the text 20 ROTHMANS ROYALS on the left and a red-bordered box on the right containing health warnings in Greek and Turkish.
Below this is the main front panel, which is red with a diagonal blue stripe. It features a gold crest with two lions flanking a shield containing a stylized R. Above the crest, the word ROYALS is printed in large gold serif letters, with VIRGINIA FILTER CIGARETTES in smaller text underneath.
Moving down, a narrow red horizontal band contains the brand name Rothmans ROYALS in gold.
Below the band is a large cream panel with a gold border. The text inside is oriented upside down and reads: Rothmans Royals give you the light flavour of specially blended Virginia leaf. These King Size cigarettes are made to the high standards smokers expect from Rothmans, known for fine tobacco since 1890. The word ROTHMANS is printed in red at the bottom of this block. Small text at the very bottom of this panel states: MADE UNDER SUPERVISION FOR ROTHMANS OF PALL MALL BY GARANIS & PETRIDES LTD, NICOSIA.
Further down is another gold crest identical to the first, followed by another red horizontal band with Rothmans ROYALS.
The bottom-most section is a cream flap with the word Rothmans in gold cursive script. Small numerical codes 1770, 261081, and 25 are printed on the side flaps.
The move by Rothmans into the Cypriot market saw the Carreras-Rothmans companies capture well over half the Cypriot cigarette market by August 1970. In that month Carreras-Rothmans announced that their sales in Cyprus had broken all previous records and had captured 60 percent of the Cypriot cigarette market, up from 40 percent the year before. Sales figures for the first six months of 1970 compared to 1969 showed a 22 percent increase, and sales in June alone were up by 10 percent in 1970 compared to 1969. Since February 1970, 30 million “Royals” had sold in Cyprus, capturing 6 percent of the market, to make it the fourth most popular brand. This remarkable achievement saw the sales manager, Alastair MacConnacher, promoted to a position in the London head office, with the Cyprus Mail stating that, with three consecutive months of sales records, MacConnacher leaves “on the crest of the wave.” The successful sales team also included Melik Melikian & Co. Ltd, the distributor of Carreras and Rothmans brands in Cyprus.Footnote 58 In 1972 Melik Melikian Co. Ltd. celebrated its 50-year association with Carreras, having first distributed its cigarettes in 1922, and Melikian was presented with a plaque at the Baker Street, London, offices of Carreras.Footnote 59 Rothmans cigarettes made in Cyprus found a significant market in the Middle East and beyond. In 1974 a Cyprus Airways plane, converted to transport cigarettes, transported 5 million Rothmans cigarettes to Libya on two flights within two days, a practice which continued in the following years.Footnote 60
The Carreras-Rothmans move presented significant challenges for BAT/Dianellos & Vergopoulos. As early as 1965 BAT placed Dianellos & Vergopoulos under scrutiny. It then held 41 percent of the Cypriot market, while Taki Patiki held 54 percent for Carreras. At the start of 1963, the advice to BAT was that Cyprus would be entering a period of “considerable prosperity and stability,” so it decided that Ardath, which then held 44.6 percent of the market, would acquire Dianellos & Vergopoulos, which held 15.5 percent of the market, thus giving BAT over 60 percent of the market. This “merger” was in fact a purchase, which cost BAT £340,000, allowing it to use the Dianellos & Vergopoulos factory, brands and image.Footnote 61 But within six months fighting broke out between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and the new factory was in the fighting zone. It faced a crisis in April 1964 when George Bernard Gibbins, one of its salesmen, went missing while selling cigarettes in Turkish Cypriot villages, and was feared dead.Footnote 62 At the end of 1965 the situation had stabilized, but BAT had not acquired the 60 percent market share it had expected from the deal. BAT acted, changing its management, with P.A.G. Purdon replacing Osborne in December 1965, and embarking on a vigorous marketing campaign of Gold Leaf, Matinee and Filter Kings to bite into the sales of Craven A, which it acknowledged was “the big Cypriot seller.”Footnote 63 In the mid-1960s, BAT started “Operation Tarnik,” which compared the content, especially nicotine and sugar levels, of their cigarettes with those of their competitors, and cigarettes produced in Cyprus by Dianellos & Vergopoulos and Taki Patiki were frequently tested.Footnote 64 But by 1971, concerned by the drop in market share, BAT initiated a review of operations in Cyprus, stating that Dianellos & Vergopoulos was “in a critical situation,” having dropped to 33 percent of the market share in 1970–71 from 40 percent in 1969–70. The review found that no Dianellos & Vergopoulos brand was providing value for money to challenge the Carreras-Rothmans-Patiki popularity of Craven A, which was selling 30 million cigarettes per month at a cost of 150 mils per 20, Rothmans King Size Filter Tip, which was selling 10 million per month and increasing, at a cost of 200 mils per 20, and Dunhill King Size Filter Tip, selling 5 million per month and increasing, at a cost of 175 mils per 20. While Dianellos & Vergopoulos had the second most popular brand in 555 King Size Filter Tip, with 14 million sales per month, more was needed to market it. So it was decided to produce a more positive-looking packet for it and market it more strongly. Meanwhile, it launched John Players at the same price as the Rothmans King Size Filter Tip in March 1972, and in June Benson & Hedges De Luxe (Hibernian) at 175 per 20 and reduced the price on Benson & Hedges Special Filter to 150 per 20. BAT concluded that this was necessary “to regain market share after the severe attack on the Company by Carreras.”Footnote 65 But with the introduction of Rothmans Royals and the Carreras-Rothmans marketing campaign and event sponsorship, BAT-Dianellos & Vergopoulos were still scrambling to find that competitive edge to counter Craven A, and were apprehensive when Phillip Morris showed an interest in 1974 in opening the old Dianellos factory in Larnaca.Footnote 66 By 1977 the market share of Dianellos & Vergopoulos/BAT had drastically diminished, with 555 State Express holding only 12.7 percent of the market share, behind Craven A with 36.8 percent, Dunhill King Size with 20.6 percent and Rothmans Royals with 13.0 percent, showing that the Carreras-Rothmans penetration via Taki Patiki was dominant.Footnote 67 This may have led to the decision to remove the name Dianellos & Vergopoulos and rename the company BAT (Cyprus) Limited in 1977, though the use of Dianellos & Vergopoulos continued, even in official BAT documents.Footnote 68
The Promotion and Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking in Republican Cyprus
The above indicates an increasing hold over Cypriot society of major international cigarette companies together with the local ones. Not only were the increased sales made public, but they were also celebrated as major achievements. Corporate sponsorship of major sporting and cultural events gave cigarette companies a prominent place in society.
Advertising in Cypriot newspapers became more sophisticated in the 1960s as the international multinational companies entered into partnerships with local companies and were able to introduce their more advanced marketing skills. Although it is difficult to show that advertising increased the prevalence of smoking, since it was also about convincing smokers to change brands, the increasing volume of advertising did mean that there was a significant growth in competition to attract current smokers to new brands as well as new smokers, especially youth, to take up smoking. In fact lyceum and secondary schools in Cyprus, as in other countries, sold cigarettes to pupils and heavily advertised cigarettes with posters and other advertisements on school grounds.Footnote 69 The most popular brands, as well as the introduction of new brands, were heavily marketed. By 1963 Craven A was advertised in Cyprus as the cigarette that outsold all other Virginia filter cigarettes combined, and advertisements often featured a map of Cyprus behind a packet of Craven A (see Figure 9).Footnote 70
“Right around the world—in Cyprus too!”
Source: Cyprus Mail, 31 October 1962, 4.
Figure 9. Long description
The advertisement is structured as follows.
* Top Section: Large bold text reads Right around the world dash in Cyprus too exclamation mark.
* Middle Left: A stylized map of Cyprus with horizontal hatching lines. City labels include Polis, Paphos, Limassol, Nicosia, Kyrenia, Larnaca, and Famagusta. To the left of the map is an oval bubble containing the text 100 mils for 14.
* Middle Right: An open pack of Craven A Virginia cigarettes. Several individual cigarettes are visible, with one standing taller than the others to show the filter and branding. The pack features a black oval logo with C R A V E N A in white text, and the manufacturer name Carreras L T D, London.
* Bottom Left: A block of promotional text states that Craven A Filter Long Size is becoming the best liked filter cigarette worldwide, highlighting a balance between Virginia tobacco and the filter.
* Bottom Section: Large block letters at the base read LONG SIZE FILTER, followed by a final line of text: The perfect balance between filter and tobacco.
While during the colonial period the British allowed capitalism to develop without much interference, the Makarios government accelerated the development of the cigarette industry. Not only was this visible in the decisions taken by the government to permit the merging of two international multinational companies with the two local ones, and in the formation of local companies out of these mergers on the island, but it was also visible in supporting social, cultural, and economic events, whether directly through their financing or indirectly by the presence of ministers. One of the major economic events of the calendar, which the government financially sponsored, was the Cypriot International Fair, which was first started in 1954 during the colonial period, and continued during the Republican period. President Makarios visited the fair every year and in 1965 was photographed visiting the Craven A pavilion.Footnote 71 The fact that Makarios and Küçük, and most politicians, were heavy smokers meant that the cigarette industry was bound to have strong supporters in the government and encouraged the general population, who saw their leaders smoking, to take up the habit. Makarios was careful not to smoke in public for fear of being criticized, although smoking is not prohibited by the Eastern Orthodox Church. However, it was well-known that he heavily smoked in private and as soon as he entered his vehicle. Meanwhile, Küçük was often seen smoking in public, although he was a medical practitioner.
By the 1970s Cypriot newspapers published more than before about the sales of cigarette manufacturers and the most popular brands. Although this data does not show the levels of increased smoking, it does show the prevalence of smoking and which brands were the most popular. By the end of 1970, Craven A maintained its sales and top position as the most popular cigarette from the year before. Meanwhile, Dunhill King Size had increased its sales by six times, Rothmans King Size Filter increased by four times, with Royals, the new cigarette introduced, capturing 6 percent of the market.Footnote 72 By the summer of 1971 Carreras-Rothmans had captured 65 percent of the market in Cyprus. While Craven A easily remained the top-selling cigarette in Cyprus, with a massive 1 million smoked in Cyprus every day, this was followed by Rothmans King Size, which sold 7 million per month, followed by Dunhill King Size, and Royals.Footnote 73 The newspapers frequently published the change in prices after the government raised or lowered taxes, and from this it can be seen that Craven A and Royals were the cheapest brands sold by Carreras-Rothmans in Cyprus (see Figure 10).
Carreras-Rothmans cigarette prices, 4 May 1974.
Source: Cyprus Mail, 4 May 1974, 4.
Figure 10. Long description
At the top center is a heraldic crest featuring a cross and crown. Below this, the header reads Carreras of Cyprus Limited in a large bold font, followed by the word ANNOUNCEMENT.
A paragraph of text states: Following the imposition of the new taxes on locally produced and imported cigarettes by the Government, Carreras of Cyprus Ltd and Rothmans of Pall Mall (Cyprus) Ltd announce the following new prices with effect from May 4.
The price list is organized into three columns: brand name, price in mils, and quantity.
* CRAVEN A: 140 mils per 14’s.
* CRAVEN A: 200 mils per 20’s.
* ROTHMANS ROYALS: 200 mils per 20’s.
* CONSULATE MENTHOL: 250 mils per 20’s.
* DUNHILL KING SIZE FILTER: 250 mils per 20’s.
* ROTHMANS KING SIZE FILTER: 300 mils per 20’s.
* DUNHILL INTERNATIONAL: 450 mils per 20’s.
* ROTHMANS INTERNATIONAL: 450 mils per 20’s.
* PETER STUYVESANT LUXURY LENGTH: 425 mils per 20’s.
By the end of the 1970s, that is, on the eve of the formation of the Non-Smokers League, the production of cigarettes in Cyprus, their consumption locally and their export, as well as the import of foreign-made cigarettes, was at an all-time high. In 1978 2.5 million okes (7.4 million pounds) of cigarettes were produced, and of these, 1.8 million (5 million pounds) were exported. In 1979, 2.4 million okes (6.7 million pounds) of cigarettes were produced, and 1.6 million okes (5.5 million pounds) were exported.Footnote 74 This indicates that although more was exported than remained on the island, there were still between 0.7 and 0.8 million okes left on the island for consumption.
The cigarette companies promoted their brands through vigorous advertising and sponsorship of events and played a much greater role in the 1960s and 1970s in the social and cultural lives of Cypriots than during the colonial period, reflecting their tremendous expansion into Cyprus during the first two decades of the Republic. Ardath mainly sponsored sport, especially football, offering in 1961 £50 to the winner of the football league and £25 to the runner-up, and paid for the purchase of the tops for all players in the league.Footnote 75 It was the major sponsor of Omonia Football Club, the great rival of APOEL, which Carreras sponsored.Footnote 76 In the 1960s, Carreras and Takis Patiki led the way in sponsoring events. From 1961–62 Carreras and Takis Patiki sponsored the “Craven A Sportsman of the Year,” which was jointly won by Pavlakis Vasilliou of EPA (Ένωσις Πεζοπορικού Αμολ) Larnaca Football Club and Ergun Özsev of Chetinkaya Football Club in 1961-62.Footnote 77 In February 1963, R.W.S. Plumley, the Managing Director of Carreras, visited Cyprus and announced the Carreras Scholarship Scheme, which funded undergraduate scholarships to the Nicosia Technical Institute for many years.Footnote 78 The General Manager of Carreras Ltd in Cyprus, Gerald Parker, also initiated the “keep your village clean” competition in February 1967, in which Carreras, Takis Patiki and Melik Melikian provided a £500 reward to the village judged the cleanest.Footnote 79 In 1968, Alan Dover, the new general manager of Carreras of Cyprus, claimed that Carreras was contributing to the “wellbeing” of the Cypriot community by sponsoring seventeen students at the Nicosia Technical Institute, and was finalizing details to sponsor Cypriots to study engineering at UK universities, donating large sums to the Red Cross in Cyprus, and sponsoring various sporting events, such as football, yachting and karting.Footnote 80
The social and cultural activities of the industry in the 1960s paled by comparison to those in the 1970s, especially those of Rothmans. When Dover announced the new “Royals” cigarette in 1970, he also reiterated that Rothmans and Carreras, which he called “sister companies,” would contribute even more to the wider Cypriot community. For example, they would increase their contribution for technical undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships to Cypriots from £2,000 to £3,000 in 1971, donate up to £1,000 to various local charities, and provide free advice to local tobacco growers in the Karpass. They also planned to increase their sponsorship of various sporting events, such as football (soccer), yachting, and motor sports.Footnote 81 The list of its sponsorship of social and cultural activities was staggering. In 1970 it started the “Rothmans Beautiful Cyprus Photographic Competition” to find the best photograph of Cyprus for the year, with prizes including a trip to Europe and photographic equipment. In its first year the competition attracted over 220 entries, and the winner was judged by Professor Arthur C. Frick, Professor of Fine Arts at the American University of Beirut. In the first year, the winner was Dwight Marsh of Kyrenia for his color photo of Antiphonitis Church in Agios Ambrosios; second prize went to George Lanitis for a black-and-white picture of basket-making at Paphos, and third to Jack Jacovides for a picture of Bellapais Abbey.Footnote 82 The judges selected the forty best photos for an exhibition, which would go around Cyprus.Footnote 83 In April 1971, Rothmans sponsored the 3rd International Cartographic Exhibition at the Hilton Hotel organized by the Cyprus Geographic Association, under its president George Karouzis, a sponsorship it maintained in 1972.Footnote 84 In 1972, Rothmans sponsored the Cyprus Combined Services Parachute Club annual championships at Dhekelia, and in 1972 an airshow presented by the Cyprus Aeroclub at the Nicosia Old Airport, which attracted 10,000 spectators, under the patronage of the President of the House of Representatives, Glafkos Clerides.Footnote 85 In 1975, Rothmans sponsored the screening of the Woodstock film festival movie.Footnote 86
As in other countries, Rothmans played a major role in sponsoring sporting events in Cyprus and the telecast of major sporting events on TV. In 1970 it sponsored the Bridge Festival, organized by the Cyprus Duplicate Bridge Association at the Ledra Palace Hotel, and the TV telecast of the Football World Cup.Footnote 87 In 1971, it began sponsoring the annual Dunhill sailing regatta.Footnote 88 Its most dedicated and significant contribution was to Cypriot motor sports, in cooperation with the Cyprus Automobile Association.Footnote 89 It started in 1970 by sponsoring two Cypriot entries in the Acropolis Rally, a major international rally held in Greece, and it continued to sponsor Cypriot entries in various rally races in the coming years.Footnote 90 From the late 1960s it sponsored various motor races throughout the year in Cyprus. In 1970, it sponsored the Cyprus Winter Rally, Cyprus Spring Autocross, in the Summer the Davlos Hill Climb (the hill climb event rotated from year-to-year between Davlos, Lefkara and Platres), and then in October the Cyprus Motor Rally, which ran for 700 miles, over 24 hours.Footnote 91 Rothmans had a TV advertisement for the Cyprus Rally in 1970 in which a driver was given a Rothmans Royals cigarette after speeding around some bends (see Figure 11).Footnote 92 The October 1970 rally, although a national event, attracted 35 entrants, including international drivers such as the Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola and the Swedish-English driver Gunnar Palm, but both faltered on the Troodos Hills with mechanical problems. The event was attended by members of the International Automobile Federation with a view to including the race in the European Rally Championships calendar.Footnote 93 The success of the event saw it given international status, and the first Cyprus International Rally was held in October 1971 (see Figure 12), and has been held ever since, except for 1974 and 1975 owing to the war, and in 2022, owing to the Covid pandemic. The 1971 event was also sponsored by Lombard Banking (Cyprus) Ltd, owned by Keheyan. There were over 60 entries from various countries, including British driver Brian Culcheth and Ali Sipahi from Turkey.Footnote 94 In 1972 there were seventy-three entries, mainly from the UK, Greece and Turkey, and Rothmans spent over £15,000 on it.Footnote 95 The 1973 event was even bigger, with Dover going to London to ensure a high-caliber international field, which attracted eighty-six entrants, and German TV was secured to broadcast it.Footnote 96 The Cyprus International Rally quickly climbed the European coefficients, reaching coefficient 3 in 1978, and in 1982, it was promoted to the top level in Europe, becoming one of the eight elite events.Footnote 97 Then in 2000 it became one of the World Championship Races.
Rothmans TV advertisement from 1970.
Source: Cyprus Mail, 26 November 1970, 2.
Rothmans advertisement sponsoring first International Cyprus Rally, October 1971.
Source: Cyprus Mail, 3 October 1971, 2.
Figure 12. Long description
The advertisement is structured into three main vertical sections.
Top Section: A large graphic logo featuring the word Rothmans in cursive script at the very top. Below this, the word SPONSORED appears in small capital letters. The main title, INTERNATIONAL CYPRUS RALLY, is enclosed in a rectangular border with rounded corners. The word INTERNATIONAL is smaller and sits above the word CYPRUS RALLY, which is written in large, bold, sans-serif block letters. At the bottom of this border, a line of text reads ORGANISED BY THE CYPRUS AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION.
Middle Section: The dates OCT 16 - 17 are printed in large, bold, serif font.
Bottom Section: Three lines of informational text.
Line 1: Competitors are reminded that the closing date for entries is October 9.
Line 2: For entry forms and further details please contact Rally Secretary c/o C. A. A. P. O. Box 2279 Nicosia Tel; No. 73883.
Line 3: Enter now for this exciting event — sponsored by Rothmans who are offering cash prizes totalling over £1000.
The other sport Rothmans sponsored in Cyprus and internationally was tennis. Although not reaching the same heights as the Cyprus International Rally, the sponsorship of tennis tournaments by Rothmans was significant for tennis in Cyprus, the Middle East and Europe. Rothmans sponsored the Rothmans International in London from 1970 to 1977, played on indoor carpet courts at the Royal Albert Hall in London, except for the final one, played at Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Winners included Rod Laver in 1971 and Bjorn Borg in 1974. The Rothmans Open Tennis Tournament, organized by the Cyprus Lawn Tennis Association, was first held at the Field Club in Nicosia in 1971, with the aim of expanding the sport in Cyprus. It was the first time that money prizes were offered.Footnote 98 The first men’s singles champion was Ilter Sami, a Turkish Cypriot who was winning tournaments in Cyprus from the 1950s.Footnote 99 While Rothmans continued to sponsor smaller tournaments around Cyprus during the year, it attempted to build the Rothmans Open in Nicosia into a larger event by offering more prize money as the years progressed.Footnote 100 Alan Dover, himself a player, presented the trophy and prize money, which amounted to almost £500 in 1973.Footnote 101 In 1974 the event was held about two months before the coup and war, with Sami winning again.Footnote 102 The tournament was held in 1975, when Kalaidjian won, but thereafter petered out.Footnote 103
BAT and Dianellos & Vergopoulos were left scrambling in the face of the significant marketing by Carreras-Rothmans. In 1972, J.M. Aitken, the managing director of Dianellos & Vergopoulos, complained to the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) over the wording in a series of Carreras-Rothmans TV ads. In response, Dover fired back with his own complaints over BAT ads, namely those for John Players. CBC tried to mediate, but failing that, it decided to censor the “use of absolute statements with world-wide implications in cases where this was not warranted” and apply this to all cigarette TV advertisements.Footnote 104
BAT knew that such sponsorships were powerful marketing tools that enhanced brand visibility and created positive associations between smoking cigarettes and enjoyable cultural and social experiences. Both groups, especially Carreras-Rothmans, by aligning their products with popular events, normalized smoking within social and cultural contexts, especially with young adults who are more susceptible to influence. The strategic positioning of cigarette brands within culturally and socially significant contexts for Cypriots perpetuated existing smoking norms and fostered new generations of smokers. Thus, when prominent cultural and sporting events became platforms for such advertising, they contributed to a societal perception in Cyprus that smoking was acceptable and glamorous.
Anti-Smoking Messages After 1960
In the Cypriot press the anti-smoking messages marginally increased after 1960, especially in the 1970s. Most of these articles were from international news agencies, such as Reuters, and not produced by local reporting, and thus not tailored to Cypriots. This only changed in the late 1970s, when articles specific to Cyprus appeared, linked to the work of the Anticancer Society and Non-Smokers League.
In the 1960s, the articles in the Cypriot press reported on foreign developments and reactions to the linking of cigarette smoking with lung cancer and other health conditions. In March 1962 the Cyprus Mail reported on the British reaction to the Royal College of Physicians report linking smoking and lung cancer. Enoch Powell, the Tory Minister of Health, stated that the connection was “crushingly demonstrated.” The article discussed how, in the eighteenth century, the then Royal College of Physicians lobbied for measures to limit the drinking of gin, which it achieved in 1830, and now it was trying to do something similar with cigarettes by having them taxed and shifting cigarette smokers onto cigar and pipe smoking, which were lesser health risks. The article believed that a “safe cigarette” would be created once it was discovered what it was in cigarettes that made them cancerous. The government was going to increase its anti-cigarette-smoking campaign in schools, place restrictions on some forms of cigarette advertising, raise taxes on cigarettes, and reduce them on pipe tobacco and cigars. The article claimed that after some “wavering” there would be a national policy to “deal with what is one of the main killers of men in the prime of life.”Footnote 105 In September 1964 an article in the Cyprus Mail stated that Dr Harvey Flack, the editor of the British magazine, Family Doctor, claimed that a 35-year-old man who smoked had half the chance of reaching retirement age as a non-smoker. He noted that the Royal College of Physicians report found that the percentage of doctors who smoked cigarettes had fallen from 38 percent in 1951 to 23 percent in 1961, with some switching to pipe or cigar smoking, which were less dangerous.Footnote 106
From 1964 a select group of Greek-language newspapers in Cyprus also started reporting on and discussing the health dangers of cigarettes, but these were sporadic. In January and February 1964, two Greek-language newspapers published articles asking the question, how can someone quit smoking? The first one discussed the dangers of nicotine and how it was addictive, comparing it to hashish addiction. It argued that quitting was a long road and a good approach was to start by reducing the number of cigarettes smoked in a day. The second article, which came from a Greek newspaper, detailed the excessive smoking habits of Greek actors, and how some had reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked per day (such as Jenny Karezi, down from 70 to 30 a day), while some had quit.Footnote 107 In 1967, Συναγερμός summarized a report from US scientist William Stewart, who argued that smoking caused many cancer deaths and this would continue to grow unless smoking was discouraged. The article argued that there was no simple formula to quit and that smokers should put in place a strategy to quit.Footnote 108
These anti-smoking messages were intermixed with ones that played down the dangers of smoking by emphasizing other causes of cancer. Although these articles acknowledged the dangers of smoking, they also highlighted that it was not just smoking that caused cancer, but all forms of smoke, such as those from industry and cars, and also that the sun was a major danger.Footnote 109
By the 1970s, there were numerous articles stressing the dangers of smoking in Cypriot newspapers, but most of these, especially in the early 1970s, were from the foreign press. The four articles published in Μεσημβριανή over the first five weeks of 1971 constitute the most sustained anti-smoking press seen in Cyprus to date. The first article, mainly summarizing a report from the British Medical Council and referring also to US studies, established that the rate of death due to lung cancer was continuing to increase and that the evidence was increasingly showing that this was due to cigarette smoking. It detailed the dangers of nicotine and elaborated on the additional negative impact of cigarette smoking on the heart as well as on sexual drive and performance. It outlined the measures recommended to restrict smoking: ban all forms of cigarette advertising; print warning labels on all cigarette packets; disclose on all packets the amount of nicotine in each cigarette; and create public areas for smokers to protect non-smokers from passive smoking. The second article, mainly summarized from the French and British press, claimed that there was increasing momentum there and in the US to combat cigarette smoking. The third article disclosed the measures being considered and others already introduced in those three countries as well as in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland to tackle cigarette smoking. Although it stopped short of saying that Cyprus should follow these countries, it was conveying that internationally there was a push by governments to implement anti-smoking measures. The last article reported that the UK Secretary of State for Health, the Conservative Sir Keith Joseph, announced that German and Swiss studies had found that while excessive cigar and pipe smoking were bad for one’s health, they were not as bad as cigarette smoking.Footnote 110 This series of articles may have given Keheyan and the others involved the courage to proceed with the formation of the Anticancer Society at the end of 1971.
During this period, the Cyprus Mail published an article from Reuters by Paul Majendie titled “Smokers still puff away in defiance of the doctors,” referring to how anti-smoking “propaganda” was “mushrooming,” and yet there were still millions of cigarette smokers. While governments had made smokers aware of the risks by publicizing medical reports linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer, government action varied across countries, largely because they faced the dilemma of making sizeable revenue from tobacco tax. Yet two scientific reports from Canada and the US found that if cigarettes were eliminated, there would be more healthy working people to compensate for the loss of tobacco revenue. Despite the warning, cigarette sales continued to increase, with smokers switching to filter tips containing less tobacco. The US led in the prevalence of smoking, followed by Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Cigarette sales had dropped in the US after the report by the US Surgeon-General in 1964 had linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer, but by 1970 sales were up again. In January 1971, the US banned cigarette advertising on TV, while the UK had banned it five years earlier. British smokers had temporarily been scared by the 1962 report by the Royal College of Physicians linking smoking with lung cancer, but by 1969 consumption had increased again. A new report from the Royal College of Physicians claimed that 90 percent of lung cancer was caused by cigarette smoking, and other causes of death linked to smoking included coronary heart disease. In Italy the sale and consumption of cigarettes had risen steadily over the last 40 years, although it banned cigarette advertising in 1962, and the government was looking at banning smoking on public transport. The only other country with bans on advertising was Saudi Arabia, where penalties applied if the law was infringed. Other countries were considering introducing measures.Footnote 111
For the next three years, 1972–1974, Μεσημβριανή, Συναγερμός and the Cyprus Mail continued to inform their readers about anti-cigarette initiatives around the world. In 1972 Συναγερμός published two articles, one recommending the eating of fruit as a measure to cut back on cigarettes, and in the other, another mixed message, arguing that a UK researcher had found that chain-smoking would more likely lead to quitting than addiction. In 1973, Μεσημβριανή revealed that a US study had found that if someone smoked nine cigarettes a day, they would lose 5 years of their life, twenty cigarettes would lose someone 6 years, and over 40 would lose someone 9 years. The article again discussed the dangers of nicotine and cigarettes to the heart. Another article in Μεσημβριανή discussed the recommendations of a psychologist on how to limit and even quit smoking, by accepting that smoking was a habit, rather than an addiction, and that the habit could only be broken by changing your smoking routine.Footnote 112 In 1974, the Cyprus Mail published another Reuters article on the research sponsored by BAT using monkeys to find a safer cigarette. The article detailed how sixty monkeys were strapped in a chair from 11 am to 4 pm and made to chain-smoke, while being monitored. After years of smoking, they were killed and dissected to see the impact of cigarette smoking on them. Additionally, wood pulp was being studied as a possible alternative or blend with tobacco, while synthetic filters were also being tested. A committee formed by the British government in 1973 and headed by Professor Robert Hunter from Birmingham University was monitoring these developments. Hunter believed that the research would enable the industry to develop a safer cigarette.Footnote 113
One of the first serious and comprehensive anti-smoking articles to appear in the Cypriot press was the article by Dr Clive Wood, published in the Cyprus Mail on 6 September 1972. The article, written for the UK press and titled “Smoking is Not Good For You, But the Habit Grows,” focused upon why it had taken so long for warnings to appear on cigarette packaging about the dangers of smoking and what these dangers actually were. The medical explanations provided were not likely to have been understood by most Cypriots, and many could not read the Cyprus Mail anyway.Footnote 114
Below the article, the Cyprus Mail published a story about the appointment of Lellos Tseriotis as the new chairman of the board of directors of Dianellos & Vergopoulos. While publishing a story warning about the dangers of smoking, it presented on the same page Tseriotis, a member of the famous Tseriotis family associated with BAT-Ardath-Dianellos & Vergopoulos for 45 years.Footnote 115 These were the contradictions not only in Cypriot society but across the world when it came to treating the health risks of cigarette smoking and the role of the cigarette manufacturing industry in the 1970s.
By 1975, there were thirty countries that had taken some anti-smoking measures, primarily restrictions on advertising. From 1975 newspapers in Cyprus were increasingly publishing about the dangers posed by cigarette smoking. In July 1975, the Cyprus Mail reported that WHO was urging governments worldwide to increase anti-cigarette efforts by introducing legislation to curb the addiction, and warned that cigarette smoking in developing countries was on the rise. A report by a committee linked cigarette smoking to various health ailments and stated that it was a “great health hazard.” Of 100 countries studied, only 30 had taken any steps, which were to restrict advertising, but it wanted cigarette smoking discouraged in legislation and more research funded.Footnote 116 In 1976, Ελεύθερος Λαός published two articles on research showing that passive smoking seriously harmed the health of non-smokers, which was also the subject of an article in Μεσημβριανή in 1977, which also warned of the dangers of childhood smoking, which it took from the Athenian press.Footnote 117
The Formation of the Cyprus Anticancer Society and Non-Smokers League, and the First Anti-Smoking Legislation
On 20 April 1972, Hagop Keheyan held a press conference at the Hilton Hotel, in Nicosia, to mark the inauguration of the Cyprus Anticancer Society. The Cyprus Mail published a photo (see Figure 13) of the event on the next day, which included Keheyan, who was the president of the society, Nicos Ionides, the secretary, Dr Riginos Theocharous, the treasurer, a former Minister of Finance (in the provisional government 1959–60 and in first government, 1960–62), and Stella Soulioti, formerly the Minister of Justice (1960–1970) and Health (1964–66), as the vice president.Footnote 118
Keheyan announcing the formation of the Anticancer Society.
Source: Cyprus Mail, 21 April 1972, 1.
Two days later, the Cyprus Mail published a lengthy article introducing readers to the Cyprus Anticancer Society and to its appeal for £100,000 to finance a care and treatment facility for cancer patients. The society, formally established in December 1971, was also appealing to the government to provide land because the operating costs were estimated at £20,000 a year and it would need to rely on donations to cover these costs. In addition to Keheyan and the three other office holders, other members included: Charles Bennett; Dr Xanthos Charalambides; Marvel Christophides; Loulla Josephides; Dr Vatche Kalbian; Evagoras Lanitis; Tony Mantovani; Thalia S. Markides; Kemal Rustem; Panicos Schizas; Dr Helen Soteriou; Dr Demetrios Souliotis, husband of Stella; and Maro Theodossiades. Anyone above 18 could join for an annual membership fee of £1 or a lifetime membership fee of £25. Keheyan stated that the priority of the society was to provide nursing care to cancer sufferers in their homes before establishing a care facility for those who could not be cared for in their homes. Another priority was for the society to support medical research into the treatment of cancer by offering awards to local medical scientists working in this field and by maintaining close relations with international bodies, especially the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation in London. Keheyan stated that cancer was curable and early diagnosis was important for a successful cure. Donations received until 16 April had raised £1,776.950 mils, including £1,000 from Keheyan.Footnote 119
In part Keheyan took the initiative to start the Anticancer Society because nobody else had and Cyprus was late to do so by comparison with other Commonwealth and south-eastern European countries. Hagop Keheyan belonged to the small, yet thriving Armenian Cypriot community.Footnote 120 Armenian Cypriots were very prominent in business, banking and finance, and trade, and perusing a newspaper from the 1930s to the 1970s one finds many Armenians advertising their companies.Footnote 121 Keheyan was born on 21 November 1922. His parents had been recently displaced from Adana. He went to the Melkonian Institute and then to the English School. While at the English School, he lost his mother to cancer, probably a significant motivation for him to later lead in establishing the Anticancer Society. By the time Keheyan completed his secondary studies, he had also lost his father and could not go abroad to university (Cyprus not having a university until the 1990s) and took a government job as an Assistant District Inspector. By 1946, he left his government job to establish the General Services Agency, an importing and exporting company, which represented various UK companies in Cyprus, including the Arbuckle Smith & Co., a steamship and forwarding company from Glasgow.Footnote 122 By 1951, he had moved onto insurance as the general agent for the English companies Warden Insurance, which was a general insurance company, and Royal Insurance, which specialized in life insurance.Footnote 123 Both ventures were successful, especially Royal, which was backed by over £1.28 million in assets.Footnote 124 Then, while continuing in insurance,Footnote 125 in 1959, Keheyan moved into banking by becoming the local agent for Lombard (Nat West) Bank (which was acquired by the Greek, Alpha Bank in 1998), and Keheyan became known as “Mr Lombard.”Footnote 126 In 1960 Lombard expanded with two subsidiary companies, Lombard Banking (Cyprus) and Lombard (Cyprus) Ltd., with the board of directors for both being Paul Bowman, chairperson, Michael Pickard (Lombard Banking, London), George Catsounotos, a businessman and shipping agent, and Keheyan as General Manager. The offices were moved from the New Kykko Building on Ledra Street to the new Mitsis building in Metaxas Square.Footnote 127 In 1970, Keheyan was one of the founders and directors of a new Cypriot insurance company, Universal Life Insurance, which included Lellos Tseriotis as a director, who represented BAT-Ardath as the managing director of Dianellos & Vergopoulos.Footnote 128 Keheyan’s significant place in Cypriot society was reflected by his membership of the delegation led by the Labour Minister, Tassos Papadopoulos, to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference in Geneva in 1969. The ILO, a UN body, holds annual conferences in which member states are represented by a delegation composed of two government delegates, an employer delegate and a worker delegate. Often governments would send a team to represent the employers and workers, and Keheyan was one of three representing the employer delegation.Footnote 129 Also significant was the fact that in 1971 Brazil established a consulate in Nicosia and appointed Keheyan as the honorary consul.Footnote 130
Keheyan was thus a prominent figure in Cypriot society from the mid-1950s. His wealth allowed him to donate to various charities and sporting events. In the 1950s his company sponsored the Keheyan Challenge Cup at the English School athletics events.Footnote 131 He later became a property developer, but the war in 1974 thwarted his plans to develop a major resort in Kyrenia, when the land came under Turkish control. So Keheyan invested in Paphos. His presidency of the Cyprus Anticancer Society and the Non-Smokers League were not his only interests in health, since in 1990 he became president of the Cyprus Heart Association. Keheyan was also a good tennis player and a figure in the administration of tennis in Cyprus. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s he entered the Cyprus Championship. The great players of this era included the Turkish Cypriot, Ilter Sami, who won the championship many times from the early 1950s, Kerhag Bedrossian, who won in 1948, and Yiannis Stephani. Keheyan excelled in both singles and doubles.Footnote 132 He had a good year in the men’s singles championship in 1955, reaching the semi-finals, and made the quarter-finals from 1957 to 1959.Footnote 133 Keheyan also became the secretary of the Cyprus Lawn Tennis Association, a branch of the Lawn Tennis Association of the UK. In 1955, he stated that the five clubs in Cyprus, of which he belonged to the Field Club in Nicosia, needed more support to develop tennis, namely funds for more courts and coaches, and to fund players to go abroad for tournaments. He believed that it was important to encourage tennis at secondary schools, yet while several schools had courts, the playing of tennis was not encouraged.Footnote 134
Keheyan was thus well placed to lead the Anticancer Society and to facilitate its fundraising. In June 1972 it received hundreds of pounds in donations from various individuals.Footnote 135 In December 1972 a “Gentlemen’s Evening” held by the Inner Wheel Club at the Salamis Tower Hotel raised £300.Footnote 136 The main purpose of the fundraising was to establish a nursing home for cancer patients. At the first annual meeting of the Anticancer Society held in March 1973, Keheyan announced that this was the society’s long-term plan. It had applied for a lease of state land to build the nursing home at a cost of £40,000, with operating costs of about £17,000.Footnote 137 At the next annual meeting in May 1974, Keheyan announced that the government had provided land near the Strovolos bypass to erect the nursing home, estimated to now cost £67,000, and Makarios had agreed to be the honorary patron. Keheyan reported that the society had made almost £20,000 in 1973 and thanked all those who had donated funds, and membership had now increased to 1,044. He also announced that the society had joined the International Union against Cancer based in Geneva.Footnote 138 One of the more visible and lasting fundraising initiatives of the anticancer society was the Christodoula March. This was initiated under Keheyan at the suggestion of Dr Souliotis, in 1974, named in honor of a woman, Christodoula, from Sotira, Famagusta, who died of cancer in 1974. The march has been held every year since then and has been a major source of fundraising for the Anticancer Society.Footnote 139
In 1977, Keheyan started planning to form an anti-smoker’s society. In September 1977, a meeting he chaired created the “Committee for the Campaign Against Smoking.” The Committee was first publicized in February 1979, and the “Non-Smokers League” was formed in January 1980.Footnote 140 Keheyen stepped aside as president of the Anticancer Society to be the president of the Non-Smokers League. The two societies were linked from the beginning, such as when in 1979 the Christodoula March was themed around the harmful impact of cigarette smoking. Keheyan remained involved in the Anticancer Society, such as when, in February 1980, it organized a fundraiser with the Rotary Club, of which Keheyan was also a director, when the Rotary Club gave the society £75,000, and saw the President of the Republic, Spiros Kyprianou, speak about the encouraging work of the society.Footnote 141 Keheyan’s actions coincided with the WHO anti-smoking resolution in 1978 and led the CBC to look into instituting the first cigarette ban on radio and TV advertisements.Footnote 142
It is therefore no surprise that from 1980 anti-smoking messages appear in the press more consistently. This is also connected to the Anticancer Society establishing links with the medical profession, namely lung and heart specialists and researchers, and with schools, to establish some statistics and begin awareness campaigns in schools. In April 1980, a newspaper reported on the work of a group of doctors, all members of the Cyprus Society for Cardiology, who warned about the dangers of cigarette smoking to heart health. They had organized a seminar on the subject at the Philoxenia Hotel, where it was established that the main cause of heart issues among younger people was the habit of cigarette smoking at a young age, since smoking increased heart disease by five times.Footnote 143 Later in the year, a newspaper reported on the research and awareness work done in schools. A survey conducted in schools in Nicosia, first started in 1971 at the suggestion of the Anticancer Society, had found that 29 percent of 18-year-olds interviewed in 1979 smoked, which was down for the same age group from 38 percent in 1971. The Cyprus Weekly commented that “one would have thought that the 1974 war would have pushed up the number of smokers.” But the survey was hardly scientific, since it was conducted randomly. This is further highlighted by the fact that the results in 1979 showed a 20 percent drop in smoking among boys and a 20 percent increase in smoking among girls, although the number of boys smoking was double that of girls. Dr Stavros Martoudis, a member of the survey team, claimed that the drop was because the anti-smoking campaign in 1979 in schools was stepped up, with more lectures and film screenings. The survey found that most smoked their first cigarette at 15, though 15 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls stated that they had smoked their first cigarette before turning 12, a much higher rate than in 1971. Martoudis was concerned about the findings, stating that “our youngsters are in grave danger,” and blamed their elders for setting a bad example.Footnote 144 In 1981 another cardiology seminar was organized, at which Dr Edwin Besterman, a leading British cardiologist and head of the Cardiology Department at St Mary’s Hospital in London, stated that Cypriots ate, drank and above all smoked too much, and did little exercise, which was causing them major health problems, especially to their hearts and lungs (see Figure 14). He was speaking from experience, having examined hundreds of Cypriots in London, as well as by comparing data with colleagues in Cyprus. He claimed that he used to smoke over forty cigarettes a day before stopping after the creation of the coronary heart unit at St Mary’s showed clearly that cigarette smoking was a direct cause of heart problems. He warned Cypriots to smoke fewer cigarettes, switch to smoking cigars or pipe tobacco, or stop altogether.Footnote 145
“Cypriots smoke—and eat—too much.”
Source: The Cyprus Weekly, 15 May 1981, 4.
One of the earliest and most important achievements of the Non-Smokers League was the passing in July 1980 by the House of Representatives of the first anti-smoking legislation. The introduction of restrictive measures against cigarette smoking had been flagged by the Council of Ministers on 23 February 1978.Footnote 146 Law 58 of 1980, titled the Health Protection (Smoking Control) Act, was a base law and was amended many times.Footnote 147 The 1980 Law banned the sale of cigarettes to a minor under 18, making it liable to a £100 fine. It made a provision to establish a Tobacco Advertising Control Committee, which would advise the Minister of Health on tobacco advertising, which was to be banned on television, cinema and radio unless approved by the Committee. Approval could not be given if the proposed advertisement could lead to the public impression that cigarette smoking led to professional success or induced non-smokers to take up the habit. The law forced manufacturers and importers to label each cigarette packet with a warning about the harmfulness of cigarette smoking, and those selling packets without the warning were liable to a £500 fine. The label was clarified as: “Warning by the Minister of Health – Smoking may be harmful to your health.” Additionally, the Law banned smoking in public spaces, including government and private workplaces, and those in breach would be fined up to £250. Finally, the Law of 1980 also outlined specifications and limits on the content of tobacco in cigarettes, namely in relation to nicotine, tar and other components, and those failing to meet these specifications would be liable to a fine of up to £1,000.Footnote 148 Litsa Anastasiou argued in a July 1981 article that the fight against cigarettes started in many countries some years ago and it was finally starting in Cyprus, albeit late.Footnote 149
The Law of 1980 was a major achievement, especially for Keheyan. However, as has been shown elsewhere, these laws were rarely enforced, let alone followed in the following decades.Footnote 150 It was, as Anastasiou pointed out, late by comparison to many other Commonwealth states and countries in the region. Cigarette advertising on radio and TV was eliminated in Italy and New Zealand in 1962, Ireland and Singapore in 1971, Canada in 1972, Greece and Bulgaria in 1973, and Australia in 1976. In Jamaica, upon the merger of Machado and Carreras in 1977, the new Cigarette Company of Jamaica voluntarily withdrew cigarette advertising from radio and TV.Footnote 151
Conclusion
In May 2024, Philip Morris Cyprus Ltd, which formed in 2021, announced what it called “an ambitious goal” of making Cyprus the first smoking-free country in Europe. But what its General Manager, Stavros Drakoularakos, a Greek national, really meant was a cigarette-free Cyprus. This was just another pivot, since, as Drakoularakos stated, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at the opening of the new Philip Morris Cyprus offices, in Nicosia, “we have already made significant progress, with more than 55,000 Cypriots having made the transition to better alternatives to cigarettes.”Footnote 152 These “better alternatives” were electronic cigarettes and vapes, which are prevalent in Cyprus. These are hardly any better than traditional cigarettes and much worse than the occasional cigar or pipe smoking. The policy, evidently endorsed by President Christodoulides, could hardly be called socially responsible or health-conscious. In fact, it speaks to an old strategy, not evident in Cyprus until much later than in other places, in which tobacco companies deploy the “harmful reduction” strategy when introducing products claimed to be healthier, but are not.
The “big tobacco” companies that established a duopoly in Cyprus with their local partners and government support employed almost every other recognized strategy to promote cigarette smoking in Cyprus. They were fortunate to have a weak civil society, caused by a complicit government trying to raise revenue and consisted of many heavy smokers, an entrenched history of cigarette smoking, and consequently their strong industry and market control. This article has established that the high incidence of cigarette smoking in Cyprus and the delay in forming an anti-cancer society, anti-smoking league, and introducing anti-smoking measures was connected to the significant role on the island of multinational cigarette manufacturing companies (i.e., BAT and Carreras-Rothmans) and government complicity and support. While there was a robust local cigarette manufacturing industry, by the 1920s big tobacco companies started entrenching themselves in the island by importing their cigarettes through local importers and purchasing locally grown tobacco leaf. By the time that the first medical study in 1950 had shown that cigarettes were linked to lung cancer, the Cypriot economy was heavily dependent on the tobacco industry, from the government to workers, and Cypriots, especially men, were heavily hooked on cigarettes. The response of multinational cigarette companies to the medical evidence was to increase their stake in Cyprus, where smoking was prevalent. In 1951, and despite there being six other cigarette manufacturers on the island at the time, BAT, through its subsidiary Ardath, established a cigarette factory in Nicosia to produce various bands of BAT and Ardath cigarettes. By the end of the decade, other local cigarette importers and manufacturers had established new partnerships with the newly merged sister multinational companies Carreras and Rothmans. In the 1960s, the first decade of Cypriot independence, BAT-Ardath and Carreras-Rothmans established a duopoly over the cigarette industry. In 1961, Takis Patiki (renamed Garanis & Petrides in 1967) extended its partnership with Carreras and started to manufacture Carreras cigarettes in Cyprus, including the popular “Craven A.” By the end of the decade, Rothmans cigarettes were also being manufactured at the Garanis & Petrides factory, and both Carreras and Rothmans came to dominate the local market, with Rothmans introducing another popular brand, “Royals,” in 1970. Meanwhile, in 1963, BAT-Ardath “merged” with the oldest cigarette manufacturer on the island, Dianellos & Vergopoulos, thus securing the continued presence of BAT-Ardath under the name Dianellos & Vergopoulos, which BAT controlled. This duopoly, backed by the government, not only controlled the cigarette industry and market, but also meant a delay in establishing any response to the growing evidence that cigarettes adversely impacted health and specifically caused cancer, which did not come until the 1970s, first with the formation of an anti-cancer society and later the non-smokers league, followed by the first anti-smoking legislation in 1980. BAT-Ardath and Carreras-Rothmans adopted four key strategies to promote cigarettes to Cypriots: social norms manipulation; targeted marketing and exploitation; sophisticated public relations campaigns; and political influence over elites. Thus, they did not need any strategy to combat public or government concerns over cigarette smoking because no movement supporting such concerns existed, and when the non-smokers league was formed, what it achieved was limited.
The key figure behind the creation of both these societies was Hagop Keheyan, a prominent Cypriot businessman and local sporting figure of Armenian heritage. He brought together leading figures in Cypriot society to establish the first anti-cancer society in 1971 without reference to cigarette smoking. From 1977 he began working toward the creation of the first anti-smoking society, which eventually formed in 1980 as the Non-Smokers League, and was the key group that pressured the government to introduce the first anti-smoking legislation in Cyprus in 1980. Keheyan was thus able to convince Cypriot legislators and a government, which had close ties to the cigarette industry, to finally introduce anti-smoking measures despite the control exerted by the multinational companies over the industry, government, and society through the mergers with local companies. Keheyan’s achievement should not be underestimated, yet the laws passed in 1980, which were amended many times and replaced in 2002 in the lead-up to Cyprus joining the EU in 2004, were the bare minimum and were rarely enforced or practiced. This explains the continued control over the industry and market of these (and other) companies and the high rates of cigarette smoking in Cyprus in the decades since the first legislation. It also explains the latest move by Phillip Morris, since Cypriots would be susceptible to the idea that vapes and e-cigarettes, both already prevalent, are fine and a method of quitting smoking.
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