Michael Koukkis

Born in the village of Prasteio¹, Famagusta district, on August 10, 1922.

Died of a heart attack on October 7, 1958 in the village of Arsos², Limassol, after a battle.

Michael Koukkis attended the primary school of Prasteio, Mesaoria. He married in the village of Agios Mamas³, Limassol, where he lived and worked in the Amiantos mine as a worker. He was interested in workers' rights and was one of the founders of the Cyprus Workers' Confederation in his area.

At the age of 17, during the Second World War, he joined the army and fought in the 1940s on the Greek Front. During the occupation, he remained in Greece and served in the Resistance in the British Intelligence Service as an adjutant to the British commander Major Chris. He had a military marriage and always wore his military uniform, saying that his mission would end when Cyprus was united with Greece.

With the beginning of the liberation struggle, he joined the ranks of EOKA and took part in the first armed attack of the Amiantos-Pitsilia guerrilla group on the Amiantos police station. He maintained a hideout in his house, where, together with his wife, they hosted the guerrilla group of Grigoris Afxentiou, hid and distributed weapons and ammunition. He took part in the manufacture of military equipment, grenades and mines. He was a liaison and guide for guerrillas and took part in attacks against the enemy.

For this action, he was betrayed in January 1957 by a traitor who led the British to his house to arrest him. He escaped arrest and fled to the guerrilla movement. Initially, he lived with other guerrillas in the area of Agios Mamas on the Zalakas mountain⁴, where they had prepared a hideout. Later, they were transferred to the Foini-Omodos area.

He died of a heart attack, after a battle that his group fought against the British on October 7, 1958 near Arsos, Limassol. His wife Athena, who was his collaborator, continued her contribution to EOKA until the end of the struggle.