Andreas Paraskeva
Timeline Events
Biography
He was born in Koma tou Gialou [1], Karpasia district, on November 30, 1940. His birthplace is currently Turkish-occupied.
He was killed on July 2, 1956 in his village, after being shot by British soldiers.
Parents: Paraskevas Alexandrou and Ekaterini Paraskeva
Siblings: Antonis, Alexandra, Elli, Eugenia, Alexandros, Anastasis, Ilios and Andreas, who was born after his death and took his name.
Andreas Paraskeva finished the primary school of Koma tou Gialou and studied until the fourth grade at the Gymnasium of Gialousa. The gymnasium is currently Turkish-occupied.
He joined the EOKA struggle at the end of 1955, in the student group of Gialousa High School, and all his actions were characterized by spontaneity and bravery. Arrest, imprisonment, death did not cross his mind. To his father's suggestion that he was too young to join such a great struggle, he replied:
“ You are late, father, to tell me. Your son has grown since he took his great vow. My father and my mother are now Greece. ”
In his actions against the English, he also had his father as a supporter, who was a leftist and was persecuted by his Party for supporting his son. "After the death of my son", he says, "my left-wing friends didn't even offer me coffee and they left the cafe when I went. But I was proud that my son gave his life for the country. I was poor and my children were many. But I worked very hard and educated all my children, because I wanted them to have a good place in society and be worthy of their hero brother".
It was Monday, July 2, 1956, at 2:30 in the afternoon, when Andreas Paraskeva and his fellow competitor, who was his signalman, ambushed British soldiers in their village for a bombing attack. When the motorcade reached the center of the village, Andreas dropped his bomb, the explosion of which wounded two English soldiers. The English chased him from the roofs and balconies of the houses where they had taken up positions. He was spotted when he ran away on his bike and was shot. He fell heroically at the age of only fifteen and a half years. His grave was destroyed after the 1974 invasion.
