A glance at Dimitris Christofias, winner of Cyprus presidential election

Dimitris Christofias won Cyprus' crucial presidential runoff on Sunday. Here is a brief look at his career.

Christofias, 61, holds a Ph.D. in history from the Soviet Union's Academy of Social Science in Moscow, and is fluent in Russian. The son of a builder and one of five children, he joined the communist-rooted AKEL party at the age of 14 and rose through its ranks to claim its leadership 28 years later, in 1988.

He was elected president of the Cypriot House of Representatives in 2001 and won re-election in 2006.

Christofias initially backed President Tassos Papadopoulos 2004 decision to reject a U.N.
reunification plan, but later split with the president over his handling of efforts to end the island's division. Christofias was critical of the outgoing president for what he described as regressive tactics edging the island toward permanent partition.

Christofias has been trying hard to fend off criticism of being a Euro-skeptic after calling for a one-year delay to the island's adoption of the euro. He also opposes calls for Cyprus to join NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.

His party has tried to allay concerns that if elected, his presidency would usher in communist-inspired policies.

Christofias claims to be more adept than his two rivals at reaching out to Turkish Cypriots thanks to his long-standing ties with the Turkish Cypriot left.

Those ties became strained after Christofias' rejection of the U.N. plan.

Christofias is married and has two daughters and a son. He underwent a lifesaving kidney transplant in 2002, in which the donor was his sister.