Vasiliki Kassianidou

Kassianidou was born in London, England and grew up in Lefkosia, Cyprus.^[1] She is the daughter of Gloria Kassianides, owner of the oldest art gallery in Cyprus.^[2]

Kassianidou studied a double major of Chemistry and Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, United States, graduating with distinction in 1989.^[1][3] She then studied a PhD in Archaeometallurgy at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, in London, England.^[4] Her research specialises in ancient mining in Cyprus^[5] and copper metallurgy.^[6]

From 1994, Kassianidou taught Environmental Archaeology and Archaeometry at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus (UCy).^[1] In 2022 she was elected as a Corresponding Member of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).^[1] In May 2023 she was elected Dean of the Faculty of Letters at UCy.^[7] From 2014 to 2023, Kassianidou was a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO.^[1][4]

After the resignation of Michalis Hatzigiannis, Kassianidou was appointed Deputy Minister of Culture by President Nikos Christodoulides on 11 July 2023.^[2][3][4][8] The Antiquities department fell under the Ministry of Culture from that month.^[9]

In office, Kassianidou has visited the Hellenic Centre and the British Museum in London^[10] and has discussed cultural cooperation opportunities with the Japanese ambassador.^[11] Over 100,000 Cypriot cultural artifacts have been digitised as part of the Digitising the Museums of Cyprus project (CADiP).^[12]

In December 2023, Kassianidou announced that Cyprus and seven other countries had "midwifery: knowledge, skills, and practices" registered on UNESCO's list of intangible culture heritage.^[13] Also that month, the federation of theatre institutions called for her to resign as Deputy Minister over arts funding.^[14]

In June 2025, an architecture booklet linked to Cyprus’ participation in the 19th International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy, was withdrawn after Kassianidou was referred to as a publisher of the book without her knowledge or consent.^[15]

In February 2026, Kassianidou announced mosaic conservation and upgrades to the Tombs of the Kings at the archaeological site of Nea Paphos.^[16]