Dimitrakis Dimitriades
Timeline Events
He was born in Larnaca1 in 1949.
He was killed on March 14, 1956 by the British, in a student demonstration in Larnaca.
Dimitrakis Dimitriades, the little hero as Digenis calls him, was only seven years old, a student in the second grade of primary school, when he was shot by an English soldier during a demonstration. His parents were divorced, his mother left for England and Dimitrakis lived with Chrystallou's grandmother Michael Koute and sold flowers to save a living. He was a calm child, but very risky.
After the exile of Archbishop Makarios, Metropolitan Kyprianos, Father Papastavros Papagathangelou and Polykarpos Ioannidis, on March 9, 1956, there was great commotion in Larnaca, as in all of Cyprus. The male and female students of all the schools came to protest demonstrations.
On March 14, 1956, the children of the Kalogera Urban School2, where Dimitrakis also studied, followed the students of the Emporikos Lyceum, in a militant demonstration. Security forces were mobilized and the protesters fled to the church of Agios Lazaros3 and started ringing the bells. The soldiers surrounded the church and threw tear gas at the students who were stoning them.
A group of children, including Dimitrakis, fled to Leontos tou Sofos Street, where a military car with armed soldiers passed them and proceeded to Nikolaou Rossou Street, now Dimitrakis Dimitriades. The soldiers got out of their car and ducked behind the street corner wall. The older children left shouting for Dimitrakis to follow them. But he continued to throw stones and one of the soldiers hit him on the head. The bullet passed just above the right eye. The students took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Update December 2021:
A meeting with the brother of the little hero of EOKA Dimitraki Dimitriadis was held in Larnaca by the Presidency Commissioner Fotis Fotiou.
The meeting was attended by other members of the Dimitriadis family. During the meeting, the Commissioner of the Presidency informed the family that the scientific procedures have been completed and as a result, the bones of the little hero Dimitrakis Dimitriades have been identified. The bones that belonged to a small child were found on 30.10.21, in a multiple burial site in the cemetery of Agios Georgios Kontos.
The Commissioner informed the family that the identified bones of their relative are in the anthropological laboratory of the Republic of Cyprus in Engomi, where the family can receive detailed information from the scientists who took part in the procedures and will have the opportunity for the first time, after so many decades to see the bones of little Dimitrakis.
The Commissioner assured the family once again that the state and he will make every effort to recognize and honor the hero's sacrifice and to create his own burial place where his memory will be honored as well as the request of the family.
Update March 2022
A church service was held on Saturday 12/03/2022 for the state reburial of Demetrakis Demetriades, who was shot and killed when he was just seven years old by a British officer while taking part in an Eoka protest in 1956.
The service, led by Kition bishop Nektarios, took place in Ayios Lazaros church in Larnaca in the presence of Demetriades’ surviving family members, House president Annita Demetriou, Greek ambassador Ioannis Papameletiou, Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras, Larnaca and Famagusta MPs, police representatives and representatives of the Eoka Fighters Association, among others.
Wreaths were laid at the boy’s grave, and presidential commissioner Photis Photiou, who was attending on behalf of President Nicos Anastasiades awarded Demetrakis’ brother Lakis Demetriades the national Medal of Honour for his brother’s sacrifice to the colonial struggle.
The burial took place in the Ayios Georgios Kontos cemetery in Larnaca, where the boy’s remains were identified in October as part of a mass grave following a written request to Photiou by his family, who did not know the exact location of his body.
The boy, dubbed “the youngest Eoka hero” by the organisation’s leader during the uprising against British colonial rule, was shot by an English officer during a student protest in the Ayios Lazaros area of the city on March 14, 1956. He was among a group of pupils throwing rocks at British officers.
At the service, Photiou explained that British officials tried to convince the boy’s father to bury the child under the cover of darkness to avoid further incidents, but he refused. “So, on March 15, 1956, a sea of sad and angry Larnaca residents said goodbye to Dimitrakis.”
Source: https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/03/12/seven-year-old-demetrakis-eokas-youngest-hero-laid-to-rest/
