EOKA Members List : A

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ABBOTS, MONKS & PRIESTS of Kykko Monastery and many clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church. (The Abbot of Kykko was taken into custody during Operation Lucky Alphonse in June 1956. During the first year of the Eoka conflict, the British authorities arrested 13 priests, six deacons, one monk and the Abbot of a Monastery. Arms, ammunition and military equipment were found during searches of church premises. Here are details of some discoveries:
    08.12.55. Ayia Varvara Monastery: A monk is found in possession of two new .38 revolvers.
    27.12.55. Khrysoroylatissa Monastery: A wanted man is found hiding and a quantity of Army equipment recovered.
    09.03.56. Archbishopric, Nicosia. A cleric found in possession of one 9-mm. automatic. Eighteen rounds of .32 ammunition, 10 petrol grenades in course of construction and quantities of petrol are also found.
    31.03.56. Kykko Metokhi, Nicosia. 19 shotgun cartridges, 6 cartridge filling machines, 53 sticks of dynamite, 1 pair binoculars and 2 War Department compasses.
    15.05.56. Paphos Bishopric, Ktima. 4 pistols, one of which had been used in the murder of a Turkish police sergeant in Ktima on 11.01.56. 26 rounds of ammunition, 1 black mask.
    23.06.56. Kykko Monastery. 1 Australian Army battledress, 1 blanket inscribed "E.O.K.A." and "Dighenis".
    13.11.56. Kykko Metokhi, Nicosia. 3 lb. explosive charge, ready for use.

In addition to the active help of the Church in the procurement and distribution of arms, the terrorists themselves, in concealing them, were quick to take advantage of the respect and sanctity accorded churches and cemeteries. They hid primed grenades, explosives and duplicating equipment in and around churches and premises of religious clubs. Four pistols, ammunition and pipe-type bombs have were found in one Nicosia cemetery, hidden under the crosses erected over graves; explosives and safety fuse in a second; and, in a third, ammunition hidden underneath bushes growing on the graves.)

Kykko Monastery, the richest in Cyprus, helped fund Eoka and was known as 'The School' by the leadership.

ABRAMIDES, Andreas (Born at Tembria village, he was killed on 03.08.58 by the bomb he was carrying. He was 20 years-old.)

AFXENTIOU, Andreas. Code names: Erasmos and Kokkinos. (He was born 1935 in Troulloi village, near Larnaca. He was not related to Grigoris AFXENTIOU, EOKA's second-in-command. One of two young EOKA members he placed six bombs, designed to destroy the new British Military Hospital under construction at Dhekelia Base, where he was employed. The bombs exploded in succession between 05.00 and 11.00 on 13.09.56. Several British military personnel were injured and considerable damage caused to the hospital. He was caught eventually and sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted and he was held as detained person 8608.)

AFXENTIOU, Gregoris. Code names: Zedhros and Zodro. (A former truck driver from Lysi, he served as a lieutenant in the mainland Greek Army from 1948 to 1952.

Portrait of Afxentiou in his Greek Army uniform.

He was Eoka's No 2, a notorious and effective terrorist, who was killed 04.03.57 in a 10-hour-long battle near the Machairas Monastery in the Troodos Mountains. GRIVAS had recruited Afxentiou long before the start of the conflict, believing his four years' military training would be invaluable.

The Eoka leader's assessment proved correct. The battle was between his small gang and the Security Forces, including members of 1 Duke of Wellington's Regt, 1 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and 3 Grenadier Guards. Of the 5-man gang, 4 surrendered. They were Avgustis EFSTANIOU, Antonis PAPADOPOULOS, Phidian SYMEONIDES and Andreas STYLIANOU. They were to receive long prison sentences.

Despite his comrades' surrender, Afxentiou still refused to come out of the cave. Eventually a Royal Engineer dropped petrol into a hole in the roof. The petrol was set alight and the cave exploded. When the troops were able to enter, they found his charred body. Underneath was a copy of Christ Recrucified by Abbot Irineos. State pathologists said he died from a bullet in the head. It was assumed by the British that he had committed suicide. Cypriot nationalists refuse to accept this view.

During the battle, Cpl P BROWN of 1 DoW was killed. The authorities buried Afxentiou in an unmarked grave in the grounds of Nicosia Central prison, without a formal funeral ceremony. While Afxentiou was operational, he ran groups in Pitsilia, Famagusta/Gaziamagosa and Makheras. At the time of his death, he had a price of £5,000 on his head. He had been active since the first day of the conflict and was one of the 16 who escaped from Kyrenia Castle in September 1955.) GRIVAS called him, 'The eagle of Pentadactylos.'

Soon after the start of the Eoka conflict, he married his childhood sweetheart, Vasiliki Panayi, in a secret ceremony conducted by Abbot PAPASTAVROS in the small Karavas/Alsancak monastery, while EOKA gunmen were on guard outside.

While some British troops give Afxentiou respect for his stand, considering him one of the few Eoka members who stood and fought, others are more critical. One has cynically observed: 'This engagement has fast become one of the epics of Greek history, taking its place in the exaggerated speeches and writings of Cypriots with Koungi, Arkadi, Thermopylae and Gravis. The inexperienced Eoka gunmen who took part, are likewise being likened to the Titans and the half Gods.'


Today there is a large monument to Afxentiou's memory, erected by the Greek Cypriot authorities. They have carefully restored his hideout, which has become a pilgrimage site for school children. Around 2000, the sculptor of the Afxentiou monument planned to exhibit his works in a hall in Newark, Nottinghamshire, where he also intended to sell miniatures of the monument, together with the Greek Cypriot version of Afxentiou's Eoka activities and death. Once the local branch of the British Legion heard about this, 'all hell was let loose'. The function had to be abandoned. Alan Meale, a Labor MP at the time, protested and claimed the Turkish Embassy in London had engineered the row. Meale was revealed by The Sunday Times as having ties with the Greek Cypriot Brotherhood, a nationalist organization, which he had not declared to the House of Commons as required by the rules of Parliament.

AFXENTIOU, Pieris. He survived the conflict and, with other area commanders, attended the farewell party for GRIVAS before his departure from Cyprus in March 1959. He was Grigoris AFXENTIOU's father and was held for a short time by the British as a 'detained person number 2188).

AFXENTIOU, Vasilou (She married Grigoris AFXENTIOU in a secret wedding on 10 June 1955 and provided support for EOKA members in her village. After her husband's death on 3 March 1957 and following the creation of the Republic of Cyprus. She lived in abject poverty and just made a living working in the fields and as a housemaid until she re-married.)

AGANTHANGEOLOU, Papa Papastavros. Code-name: Zidros or X (Born at Ayios Varvara (Nicosia) in 1911, the head priest of the Phaneromeni Church in Nicosia worked with the Bishop of Kyrenia, indoctrinating Greek Cypriot youth with anti-British propaganda and encouraging them to join Eoka. In November 1954, GRIVAS noted in his diary: ' We are busy organizing the Nicosia groups... Papastavros sent three man for training.' The priest was the president of OHEN (Orthodoxos Hristianiki Enosis Neon) or Christian Union of Youth from which he chose Eoka volunteers. He delivered the Eoka oath to his latest recruits and many people believe he was its author. Papastavros' role in the conspiracy was exceptional and earned him his deportation to the Seychelles. He was considered second only to MAKARIOS. Apart from being an intermediary between GRIVAS and MAKARIOS, he selected victims for special Eoka 'attention'.

From the start of the conflict, Special Branch had him tagged. He was arrested by 1 Wilts in Kyrenia/Girne on 09.03.56 and taken straight to Nicosia Airport to join Archbishop MAKARIOS. Before his exile, he instructed Elenitsa SERAPHIM to prepare to takeover as the Larnaca Area commander. From the moment of GRIVAS's arrival in Cyprus, Papastavros had harbored the Eoka leader's close associate Socrates LOIZIDES, until his arrest.

The priest said of himself: 'Faithful to the teachings of the New Testament, to our national history and to the tradition of the Greek Orthodox Clergy, who have always taken the lead in all the adventures of our people, whether religious or national, I considered it my duty and obligation since the early years of my life, to enlist in this campaign for the national rehabilitation of Cypriot Hellenism.' A British officer described Agathangeolou as 'a nasty Christian angel.')

* ALEXANDROU, Vasilis (According to EOKA, he was killed 21.11.58 as a result of torture by the security services. He was born in Limnitis and died aged 33.)

ALEXANDROU, Yannis. (Born1932, he built a hiding place under a house rented for GRIVAS by Pascalis PAPADOPOLIS at the start of the conflict in 1955. He later constructed and repaired hides in the Kyrenia/Girne area.)

ALEXIOS, the Father Abbot Superior, of the Chrisorrogiatissa Monastery, located in the Trodos Foothills above Panagia, actively supported EOKA. For his sins, he was arrested by the Security Forces and was held in captivity for 27 months.

ALONEFTIS, Savvas. Code-name: Asklypios. (Born 1931 in Alona village, he was a grocer by trade. joined an Eoka mountain gang early in the conflict and operated as part of a Troodos gang. His greatest claim to fame was to be one of the terrorists seen in the posed photograph of GRIVAS with his men near Kykko Monastery. In May 1956, when British forces were encircling the mountain gangs, before Operation Lucky Alphonse, Aloneftis sent GRIVAS a message, which was intercepted by the security forces, translated and distributed amongst senior commanders.

These are parts taken from the translation, dated 22.05.56: 'My esteemed Chief. (Translator's note: We have been in the habit of using the translated word CHIEF - this - especially when applied to DIGHENIS - should be COMMANDER. i.e. In military terms - G.O.C) ...I kiss your hand. (Translator's note: A sign of reverence of a junior to a very senior.) It is with a great degree of emotion that I write to you, to inform you that they (British forces) have found all the hideouts. They had a traitor whom they took up in a helicopter, and he pointed out all of the hideouts. All communications by road have been totally cut off for the past five days. No one is allowed to enter or leave KAMBOS. There are approximately 2,000 soldiers. They set off from the School and proceed as far as AMBELIKOU. They arrested BOTSARIS (Andreas POLYVIOU) and one other at KAMBOS. There are soldiers at AGHIA, at MILIKOURI, they have encamped in the gardens... I am unable to forward the mail, as I have no means of communication whatsoever. We are in a very dangerous position... They have arrested both of our chauffeurs, also our cook and two monks. We are in very grave danger... At the moment, there are soldiers outside - only the Virgin Mary will save us. We call upon the Virgin Mary for help.

ANAXAGOROU, Costas. (Enlisted at the start of the Eoka conflict, he lived in his home village of Spillia, acting as a look out and liasing with the gangs in his area. He considered one of his great achievements the destruction of a government excavator. He died on 20.06.58, his 23rd birthday, in the explosion that destroyed three other gang members in a house in Kourdali. There were three other EOKA activists with him. They, too, lost their lives. They were Alecos CONSTANTINOU, Andreas PATSALIDES and Panayiotis GEORGIADES.

Sergeant Jack TAYLOR of the UK Police Unit arrived on the scene shortly after the explosion, with his translator Behil. When other police officers and an explosives expert joined him from Platres, they entered the smouldering ruins of the house. The local muhktar told them three youths had lived there. Their remains were found and removed. Taylor wrote later: 'The RAOC officer confirmed that bits of round metal were parts of pipe bombs that had gone off and killed the four men... after photographs had been taken for use at the inquest, we checked the wreckage again. In a corner, partly covered by the fallen earthen roof, we came across two more legs, but the three bodies had had two legs each, so came the question to whom did these two belong? Though we turned over the wreckage, we did not find any more body parts. So we placed the legs in a bag and they were taken to Platres to join the others.' The legs were later identified as having belonged to EOKA bomb-maker Panayiotis GEORGIADES.

Anaxagora was born in Spilia and joined EOKA in December 1955. His role was to liaise on GRIVAS's behalf between the groups in his area and to maintain hiding places for gang members. At the time of his death he was engaged to Maria Chr. CLEANTHOUS, another EOKA collaborator.

ANASTASI, Demetrakis. (Killed 23.8.58)

ANASTASI, Georgios. (Born in 1933 in Neo Chorion village, he was killed there on 04.11.56 by security forces when an EOKA ambush failed.)

ANASTASI, Yiakoumis. (Born in Kalogrea village, he was married. He was killed by security forces after he threw a grenade at them on 18.11.58)

ANDRONIKOU, Haralambous (Born in Pomos in 1918, he was a laborer who belonged to an Eoka hit-and-run unit in Droushia. While taking part in Operation Cordon Bleu in and around Kato Pakhna, troops of 1 Ox & Bucks L I captured him and other Eoka wanted men in early January 1957.
He was caught by Ptes GRANT and KING of Support Company, 1 Battalion Ox and Bucks Light Infantry as he tried to escape during Operation Cordon Bleu, consisting of a cordon and search of Pakhna village, under the command of Major G W BAYLISS. For his part in the operation, Sergeant G W BAYLISS was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List on 1 January 1957 for his part in the operation)

ANGELIDES, Andreas (From Pano Zodia village, he was arrested during an army search and found in possession of a semi-automatic weapon and a machine gun. He was sentenced to hang, but, as a goodwill gesture, Governor FOOT commuted his death penalty to life imprisonment along with several other EOKA prisoners. Angelides had studied Classics at Athens University and was a member of ANE, EOKA's youth wing.)

ANTONIADES, Andreas (He worked for years as a paid informer for Customs. At the time, he was wanted in Greece on drugs smuggling charges. Antoniades, 75, was first recruited by Britain from Eoka ranks in the 1950s to inform on the terrorists. In 1959, Antoniades was resettled in Britain and turned to crime. He was jailed for four years for 'wounding with intent' in a gun attack in west London. Over the following decades, however, Antoniades continued as an informer and became what one Customs official said was 'one of the best we ever had'.

ANTONIADES, Costas (Born in 1923, he was killed by whom EOKA describes as 'traitors' on 06.06.58)

ANTONIOU, Phigoura (Born in Omodhos in 1912, she provided food supplies and acted as a courier for several mountain gangs. The Security Forces captured her and she was given a prison sentence. Her detention number was Sp. Det No 14.)

ANTONIOUS, Eleni (Born in Omodhos, Eleni was another ANE youth wing organizer. She was caught and convicted on 24.04.57. Her detention number was Sp. Det No. 15.

ANDREAOU, Vassos (Born in Kissonerga in 1939, he organized ANE youth groups before his capture and internment.)

ANGELIDES, Nikos. (One of a group of Greek Cypriots studying at Athens University who returned to the Island in May-June 1955 to become terrorists after undergoing training with Greek Army personnel. He was born in Yialloussa/Yeni Erenkoy, where he became the PEKA leader. Later he was attached to the GRIVAS gang to organize hides and supplies, eventually becoming deputy leader of a hit and run gang in the Lefka/Lefke area. He was married to Kleri ANGELIDOU below.)

ANGELIDOU, Kleri (Married to ANGELIDES, she started out as an Eoka supporter in Salonika. Later, as a teacher, she became an ANE organizer in Yialloussa/Yeni Erenkoy and Leonarrisso/Sadrazamkoy. She subsequently went to Kakopetra with her husband. She was rabid enotist, whom GRIVAS admired.

Angelidou survived the Eoka conflict and became very active in Cypriot politics.
During the CLERIDES/IACOVOU presidential elections, Clerides was forced to reluctantly strike a deal with her to secure Eoka's blessing. He had previously tried to avoid the organization as its membership was becoming more nationalistic and demanding. Clerides won the election with a mere 1,000-majority. Angelidou and her associates, it was said, obtained these votes, at gunpoint. With victory, she demanded and got the Ministry of Education. She immediately ordered the country's history books to be re-written with a more Hellenistic flavor. She also oversaw the island's place names changed from Greek to Latin, costing millions of pounds for new signposts. Today she actively supports the Eoka Museum in Nicosia.

ANTHIMOS, Kyriakides. Code-names: Daniel, Sylas, and Flaminios (A former soldier, he had become a priest and served in the Church of Trypiotis Initially he took his orders from the Bishop of Kitium. Greek Cypriots considered him 'the soul of Eoka'. During MAKARIOS's exile in the Seychelles, Grivas used Anthimos as his one contact with the outside world. 'He was his ADC, his secretary, and his courier,' says one historian. 'I am convinced that this secretive priest played a most novel role in Grivas's life, and one which may probably never be fully revealed.' Long after the deaths of the terrorist leader and his loyal priest, nobody has yet uncovered the secret that kept them so close.)

ANTHOULIS, Efthyvoulos. (He was the Principal of the prestigious Samual School. In this capacity, he was able to carry messages to Andreas AZINAS, Eoka's Quartermaster in Athens. He also smuggled explosives into Cyprus from the Greek capital. GRIVAS came close to ordering his execution for acting contrary to the terms of a truce declared unilaterally by Eoka.)

ANTHOULIS, Rita. (Born in Nicosia in 1938, she was one of GRIVAS's female bomb-throwers. She was caught and sentenced to two years' confinement on 29.03.58 as DP 8567.)

ANTONIOU, Christakis. (He led a group in Omodos village. In December 1955, his followers raided St Thomas police station, taking away a collection of arms and munitions.)

ANTONIOU, Savvas. (Born 17.02.1926 in Flassou, he was determined to become a police officer. He attended Police Staff College in the UK at the age of 18. Ten years later, he was promoted to sergeant and then, one year later, he became a police lieutenant. By 1959, he was the deputy chief of the gendarmerie. As a senior police officer, he was an invaluable intelligence resource for Eoka. In 1960, when Cyprus was declared independent, he was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Police Department. His training and experience helped him to bring new ideas in the Greek Cypriot force on ways to fight terrorism. He retired in the late 80s.

APOSTOLOU, Christos (Born in Aphania village in 1939, he was a member of a mountain gang that operated in the Yerakes and Kykko areas. He was caught with munitions and sentenced to death on 28.02.57, but his sentence was later commuted. He was released from prison on 18.03.59 as part of the Cyprus peace settlement. He first came to police attention when he was 17-years-old and found in possession of a home-made bomb in June 1956. By trade he was a plumber. Apostolou's father also belonged to an hit-and-run EOKA unit, in Larnaca.)

ARADIPIOTIS, Georghios (Born in 1917 in Limassol, he worked as an accountant for the Amathus Shipping Company, which made him extremely valuable to Eoka as a courier and supplier.)

ARGYRI, Kyriacou (He was a member of an hit-and-run team in Yeri. He was caught and detained.)

ARISTIDES, Efthemious. (The leader of an Eoka village gang, he was arrested by Sgt Jack TAYLOR of the UK Police Unit, after Greek Cypriot informer 'Christos' identified him. 'Christos' was based at the Central Police Station, Nicosia/Lefkosa.)

ARISTIDES, Panayotis (Born 1930, he operated in Argates with a hit-and-run gang. By trade, he was a shoemaker. Before being caught and detained, Aristides was deputy leader of a hit-and-run gang in Nicosia. On 17 February 1957 he escaped an ambush set by 40 Commando RM in which Stylianos LENAS was killed near Potamittissa and Pelendri.)

ARISTIDOU, Yiannakis (He was a member of a Troodos mountain-gang and trusted by GRIVAS. He was captured 15.03.57.)

ARTEMIOU, Nikki Georgiou, Miss Miss (A member of the Nicosia group, at 18, she was GRIVAS's girl courier and kept him in touch with all members of the organization via an Eoka mail 'center' or distribution point in the Island's capital. Early September 1957 police swooped on her house and captured scores of secret documents. At the time of her arrest she was with 18-years-old. Maroulla ECONOMIDES, another female intimate of 'The Leader', both were taken into custody at the same time. Artemious received a 7-year prison sentence on 22.10.57 for allowing her home to be used as an EOKA planning center and for storing explosives. Her mother, Mrs Chrystalla SKOUROU was given a 12-month sentence.)

ASASTI, Demetrakis. (Born in 1936, he was killed in an army ambush outside Lysi on 23.08.58)

ASHIOTIS, Andreas (18 year-old Ashiotis was in the Kyperounda area in a hide-out with CHRYSANTHOS MYLONAS and EVAGOROS PAPACHRISTOFOROU when he discovered GRIVAS had given them orders to have him killed. Ashiotis had been on the run since January 1956, after escaping from Camp K - Kokkinotrimithia Detention Camp. The EOKA leader always considered 'suspect' any Greek Cypriot who had either broken out or been released from confinement.

Ashiotis shot and killed both of his fellow terrorists and gave himself up to a solitary sentry at the 1 RUR camp at Kakopetria on 10.10.57. He immediately offered to turn informer.

Rfn Alan 'Gunner' RILEY of HQ Coy 1 RUR, with a sergeant, was sent to the hideout where Ashiotis said he had left the bodies of his comrades. 'We reached the hideout, a large burrow under the ground and there were two dead terrorists inside. The sergeant, a Korean War veteran said, "Grab a leg. He won't bite you, as he's dead". Until that night, I had never seen a dead body let alone touched one,' RILEY recalls. 'We laid the bodies on the ground. One of them seemed so young and he wore a gold St. Christopher medallion around his neck. I noticed two or three puncture wounds on his face that were from the bullets that hit him. Before we left the scene, Lt Knox arrived with explosives and blew up the terrorist hideout. Half the mountain appeared to disappear.'

Ashiotis provided invaluable information to the intelligence services and helped 1 Royal Ulster Rifles on anti-Eoka operations. He justified his actions by saying he considered EOKA's cause 'worthless and despicable and based on the cravings of ruthless and unprincipled self seekers'. He said 'Grivas was not fighting for Cyprus but fighting for Grivas,' adding, 'Grivas, who reigns through fear, is himself a prey of fear - the fear that someone should surpass him, that someone should appear bigger than him.'

At the funerals of Ashiotis' dead companions, GRIVAS sent wreaths marked 'To my brave heroes'. That same day Ashiotis' father placed the following statement in the Greek Cypriot press: 'I, Andreas Michael of Asha, hereby declare that from today I have no connection with my son, Michael Andreas Ashiotis; that any transaction, financial or otherwise, made by him is not finding on me, and that I do not recognize him to be a member of my family.'

The British gave Ashiotis safe passage to UK, financial support and a new identity. According to EOKA, Ashiotis returned to Cyprus, where GRIVAS had him executed. Many people dismiss the claim as propaganda. They say he settled 'somewhere in Canada', where he was last seen alive in mid-1970.)

ATHANASIOU, Yiannakis. (Born 1937, he was motor mechanic from Ay Dometious, Nicosia. He was one of the capital's hit and run squads. He was arrested by IS Forces.)

AVGOUSTIS, Andreas. (An Eoka area commander, he operated in Larnaca district and survived the conflict.)

AVRAAMIDES, Andreas (Killed 03.08.58)

AZINAS, Andreas. Code-names: Christos, Triptolemos, Attatalos, Adam, Menelaos and Phaethon. (He began plotting with MAKARIOS and GRIVAS in Greece long before the Eoka conflict began. Azinas had a talent for administration and deal making. A graduate in agriculture from Reading University, initially his main job was to organize through PEK reliable contacts in the countryside for the receipt and storage of arms. While loyal to MAKARIOS, he was also respected by GRIVAS. For the greater part of the conflict, Azinas stayed in Athens, acting as the organization's quartermaster. With independence, MAKARIOS rewarded him with senior posts in the new Cyprus government and he became head of the Co-operative movement. Rumors spread that he had skimmed funds intended for the purchase of weapons for Eoka during the conflict and was taking backhanders from government contractors for which he was nicknamed 'Mr 10 Per Cent'. His detractors claimed he had 'something' on MAKARIOS, which ensured his protection from criminal prosecution. With the Archbishop's death in 1977, he was investigated by the Greek Cypriot police, charged and found guilty of embezzlement. He received a prison sentence of 18 months.)

AZINAS, Maroulla (She was trained in sabotage techniques by a former Greek General, originally from Famagusta. She was a very supportive wife of Andreas AZINAS, who, based in Athens, was Eoka's Quartermaster. See above)

AZINAS, Nicolas. (Born in 1898 in Chlorakas, he was the Eoka leader in Paphos. GRIVAS stayed with him in 1954, when he was planning his campaign.)

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