Pavlos Pavlakis: The fighter, the politician, the benefactor…

Last Thursday, EOKA's "Melas", the head of the Famagusta department, Pavlos Pavlakis, passed away at the age of 91.

Who was Pavlos Pavlakis?

He saw the light of life in Ardana, Famagusta on November 10, 1930. A patriotic man, creative and very progressive. At the call of the homeland for the liberation struggle of 1955-59 he declared a thunderous presence. Together with his brother friends Antonis Papadopoulos and Grigoris Afxentiou, they were among the first to be sworn in.

The struggle of EOKA

Pavlos Pavlakis under the pseudonym "MELAS" served as the head of the Famagusta department and carried out many missions. On December 23, 1955, he was arrested by the British together with Antonis Papadopoulos inside the building of Anorthosis. He was first taken to the Kokkinotrimithia detention center and then to the Pyla detention center, from which he escaped with Antonis Papadopoulos in September 1956. After his escape, he resumed his duties as head of Famagusta until the end of the liberation struggle.

The politics

From 1959 to 1960 he was general secretary of the United Democratic Reconstruction Front (EDMA), the party from which the Patriotic Front came. EDMA was the political expression of the EOKA fighters. He was elected member of parliament in the 1960 parliamentary elections in the Famagusta Electoral District with the Patriotic Front for the first parliamentary term.

After the dissolution of the Patriotic Front in 1969 he continued as an independent. In the period 1960-1961 he was a parliamentary representative of the Patriotic Front. He retained his parliamentary position until 1970.

The Anorthosis of Famagusta

Pavlos Pavlakis was the president of the sports club Anorthosis Famagusta in the periods 1961-1962 and 1966-1967. Anorthosis was always in his heart and his words in an interview a few years ago were typical: "I am happy and I leave refreshed, that there are children like you, who are holding Anorthosis".

He always supported and helped the union quietly and effectively. For his great contribution to the club, Anorthosis named him its honorary president in 2015.

The benefactor Pavlos Pavlakis

However, apart from Anorthosis, Pavlos Pavlakis during his earthly journey benefited and helped everywhere. Charities, churches, foundations, associations, the needy, the sick, the elderly received his help which he always took care of secretly, away from the limelight, with a vision and multiple interests but mainly love for fellow human beings and a willingness to offer to the social total.

At the end of his life he completed a great course of offering, love and humanity. But also as an employer, Pavlos Pavlakis stood out as he loved the employees as his own children. Hotel employees valued and respected him first as a person and then as an employer. There are many incidents that helped and offered to many employees and their families. As a businessman he was a progressive and honest man for that and his businesses and hotels were an example to follow.

Great Benefactor of the Diocese of Constantia-Famagusta

With the golden emblem of Agios Epiphanios, curator and patron of the metropolis of Constantia-Famagusta, our Most Venerable Metropolitan Mr. Vassilios honored Pavlos Pavlakis for his great contribution to our Holy Diocese, declaring him a Great Benefactor. The simple ceremony took place on the afternoon of Monday, November 24, 2014, at the Nisi Beach Hotel in Ayia Napa and which from time to time hosts the guests of the Diocese either hierarchs or academics who take part in conferences and events held by the local church.

Famagusta.News / with information from the "Agios Christoforos" Offer and Love Center, Anorthosis Famagusta