She was born in Limassol, the daughter of the lawyer Sir Panayiotis Cacoyannnis, and the sister of the film director Michael Cacoyannis.
[1] Soulioti was the first Cypriot woman to join the RAF during World War II,[2] retiring with the rank of lieutenant.
[3] In 1961 she took the helm of the Red Cross in Cyprus, leading the organization until 2004; at the time of the Turkish invasion of 1974, she was responsible for coordinating thousands of volunteers, which gained her international recognition.
She was a follower of Archbishop Makarios, with whom she worked closely,[2] and in 1960 she was named Justice Minister of Cyprus, the first woman in the world to hold such a position.
She held numerous other honorary posts in Cyprus throughout her career, and in 1982 and 1983 spent time as a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.