Petrakis Kyprianou

Petrakis Kyprianou Image

Timeline Events

  • 29-06-1939
    Birth of hero

    He was born in Larnaca on June 29, 1939.

  • 21-03-1957
    Death of hero

    He fell fighting in the village of Ora, Larnaca province, on March 21, 1957.

Petrakis Kyprianou

Larnaca Minor Student

Biography

He was born in Larnaca1 on June 29, 1939.

He fell fighting in the village of Ora2, Larnaca province, on March 21, 1957.

Petrakis Kyprianou finished primary school in Larnaca and was a third-grader at the American Academy in Larnaca, when he was temporarily expelled from school on charges of throwing EOKA leaflets, raising the Greek flag and inciting his classmates to protest.

In the meantime, he studied on his own, while at the same time he joined the strike and executive teams of EOKA in Larnaca. On Sunday, September 23, 1956, he took part in the execution of an English sergeant and was recognized, but escaped capture and joined the guerrillas in the mountainous area of Larnaca, where he took part in many missions and attacks against the occupying forces.

In March 1957 his hideout was betrayed, between Lagia and Akapnos, but the guerrillas escaped capture and after wandering for a few days chased by the British, they ended up in Anafotida3. For security reasons, the head of the department separated the wanted persons with responsibility for action in smaller areas. Petrakis was appointed responsible for the area included between the villages of Choirokoitia, Vavla, Ora, Vavatsinia and was promoted there.

He would build his own hideout and act with local village groups in his area. On the way he parked for two days in the village of Vavla and then headed to Ora, where he had instructions from his head of construction to build a hideout in the area. On the second day after arriving there, at three o'clock in the afternoon, he was surrounded by three thousand English soldiers, who imposed house arrest on the village, looking for him.

Petrakis Kyprianou consciously chose to fight, knowing that this meant certain death. Crowded in an uninhabited house he had taken refuge in, he fought for two and a half hours with a shotgun and twenty-seven rounds of ammunition.

When he used the last cartridge, he tried to escape, trying to break the cordon of the soldiers who were waiting for him everywhere and shot him, killing him. He was the first EOKA rebel to transform the spirit of Afxentiou sacrifice into action, which had preceded it on March 3.

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