Fotis Pittas

He was born in the village of Frenaros¹, Famagusta district, on February 28, 1935.

He fell on September 2, 1958 in the battle of Achyronas² in Liopetri.

Fotis Pittas graduated from Frenaros primary school, Famagusta High School and Morphou Teachers' College. He was a student at the College when he joined EOKA at the beginning of the struggle.

He served at Achna primary school as a teacher, where he developed rich activity, both in the militant and organizational and enlightenment sectors. After being sought by the British on October 18, 1956, he went into hiding and was active during the “expedition to Victory” in November 1956. He was then assigned the reorganization of the villages of Lysi, Vatili and Askia (Assia).

On January 10, 1957, he was arrested in Vatili and held for approximately 20 days in Famagusta prison, where he was mercilessly tortured. For these days, he left us a written document, his diary and the figure of freedom painted on the wall of his cell with blood, which came out of his mouth due to the torture.

He was then transferred to the Kokkinotrimithia detention center and then to the Pyla detention center, from where he escaped on March 12, 1958, together with the hero Andreas Karyos and two other comrades, in a crypt built in a truck.

After his escape, he was appointed sub-sector commander in the Lysi region, where he developed such a rich and effective action that the British were forced to impose a fortnight's house arrest, which was even inspected by the British Prime Minister Macmillan himself, who was in Cyprus at the time.

In the meantime, the Organization's losses in the region were so great that Fotis Pittas and the other surviving wanted men of his sub-sector considered it advisable to move to a safer area.

On September 2, 1958, Fotis Pittas and his fellow heroes Andreas Karyos, Elias Papakyriakou and Christos Samaras found themselves under new house arrest in Liopetri. They attempted to escape by breaking through the cordon, but they clashed with British soldiers and were forced to take refuge in a barn in Liopetri. When they were discovered, they were called upon by the British to surrender. However, their fighting spirit led them to fight to the end. After a four-hour battle and, because their resistance was stiff, the British doused the barn with gasoline and set it on fire. Their heroic escape followed, during which all four fighters fell.