Overview

loannis Stavrianos was the most characteristic case of a Cypriot fighter of the revolution of 1821. He was a well-to-do merchant from Lofou, with rich commercial activity with Egypt. With the start of the Greek revolution, he was initiated into the Friendly Society and was the head of a group of Cypriot Agonists that sailed to Greece and which he financed himself. When his finances were exhausted, he enlisted with his comrades in the camp of the regular army. His education helped him rise from non-commissioned officer to officer. He took part in the battles around Athens led by Karaiskakis. With the liberation of Greece from the Turks, he settled permanently in Athens and made his career in the ranks of the Greek Gendarmerie, while with his retirement he successfully engaged in trade. He died in 1887, at the age of 83, and was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens. On the initiative of the Apodimon Lofos Association, the bones of the hero were transported in 1998 to his birthplace, where they were placed in an ossuary. It is even worth mentioning that loannis Stavrianos is the only Cypriot fighter who left us his memoirs. His autobiography was published in 1982 and it gives a detailed description of the battles of Athens, the siege of the Acropolis and the death of George Karaiskakis.