Savvas Zanou

He was born in the village of Lefkoniko, in the province of Famagusta, in 1922.

He was killed on October 6, 1958 in his village by the English.

Savvas Zanou studied at Lefkonikou elementary school and worked as a train driver. He was a member of the militia of Lefkonikos.

On October 6, 1958, Savvas Zanou left for his job in Morphou. He went as far as Kyra and returned to his village, because he had been placed under house arrest. He left his things and hurried away. He told his wife that the “girls”, i.e. the men of EOKA, had planted a bomb against the English on the road to Goufa and it did not explode. He told them to take her to the Turkish quarter, where there was a possibility of the English passing through, and he was worried about them.

Then he went to the barber shop. “I was shaving him”, says the barber of Andreas Lautaris, “when the explosion was heard. He stood up half-shaven and said, ‘I’m leaving’. We left together. On the way back to our house – we are neighbors – he insisted on going through the place where the explosion happened, while I insisted on going elsewhere. He didn’t listen to me and went alone.” The English soldiers arrested him and executed him.

His funeral took place in an atmosphere of shock, but also of national excitement and admiration.