Overview

Stylianos Ioannou, known as Styllis the shoemaker, hailed from Kato Drys in Cyprus. In 1925, he left for England with little knowledge of English. He took with him a only few of his personal clothes, Lefkaritika embroideries and a very precious note in English that wrote "I am from Cyprus, I came to England to sell beautiful handmade Cypriot embroideries, embroidered by my wife and my female relatives. We are poor and we only ask to be reimbursed fairly. Please buy everything you want from these beautiful embroideries. Thank you very much, My name is what is written on the card I am giving you". His journey started by knocking on doors in English neighborhoods that seemed affluent, politely asking in Greek "Please, these are very nice embroideries". Over time, he learned English and garnered a rich clientele who would often make custom orders, which he would then request from his wife and relatives. His wife would then prepare the embroideries, sent them to England via the postal office, and thus family prospered. After they were economically secured and content, they would eventually show their love of their birthplace, by funding the Boys' School of Kato Drys in 1993, which the villaged named "Stylianion" in honour of the couple. The couple had an adopted daughter, Thekla, who was also born in Kato Drys and later would marry another Katodry villager Styllis and his wife were known for their integrity, hard work, and philanthropy. This story stands as a testament to Styllis's courage and commitment to his homeland, and his wife's love, patience and support.