Andreas Stylianou

Andreas Stylianou was born in the village of Lagoudera¹ on 20 October 1930.

Andreas Stylianou, a fervent patriot, was one of the four companions of the Eagles of Machairas, Grigoris Afxentiou who were ordered to leave the hideout, where Afxentiou fought the battle alone with the armoured and numerous British soldiers.

His parents were Stylianos Nikiforou and Maria Panayiotou. Poor, hardworking and honest people. He attended the primary school of his village and was a very good student. From an early age he learned to love his country and Christ and always sought to become a good man and a good Christian. When he graduated from school at the age of 11, for livelihood reasons, he worked at many private jobs in the summer and in sowing fields. He also worked as an artisan shoemaker in the craft shop of Michael Eleftheriou. As the first-born in his family, he undertook work on many construction projects to help his parents financially.

This continued until 1952, when he moved to Nicosia, where he worked to support his four brothers and sisters, who were attending the Pancyprian Gymnasium².

Andreas Stylianou's first contact with the EOKA struggle of 1955-59 was on 25 March 1954, when Archbishop Makarios III delivered the solemn speech on the anniversary of the National War of Independence.

In August 1955, responding to the call of his country, he was sworn in and became a member of EOKA by Michael Eleftheriou at the house of Kyriakos Nikiforos.

Andreas Stylianou lived his life with a strong sense of justice and a deep Christian faith and was loved, admired and appreciated by all those who knew him.

Source: https://www.pio.gov.cy/