| dc.description.abstract | Parides was born at Anafotia in 1933 and went to the village primary school and then to Larnaca Commercial Lyceum He was a member of OXEN (YMCA) and District Secretary of the Pancyprian National Youth Organisation which was at he forefront of the fight of the Creek Cypriot people for union with Greece Inspired by the age long ideals of Hellenism he was among the first to be initiated into EOKA and headed the «Aris» group in the sabotage campaign of 1st April 1955 in Larnaca. For his action on that historic night he was arrested on 1st April and together with other freedom fighters was sentenced on 23 June 1955 to seven years in prison His prison number was 9880. At the Central Prison he worked as librarian and taught Creek to his fellow fighters while his thoughts were always focused on the idea of escaping in order to continue the struggle for liberation of his country. He also expressed his longing to escape in these verses: "We will break open the locks That keep us in chains And return to the struggle To find FREEDOM OR DEATH” On 12 December 1957 he escaped from Nicosia General Hospital where he had been admitted for a nose operation. In order to perform his spectacular escape he climbed down from the third floor using a length of rope. Dhighenis assigned the Larnaca sector to Parides. Parides set up his headquarters at Andreas Sourouklis's house at the village of Troulli. From Troulli he moved to Anglisides and then to a hideout in the area of the Ayios Minas Monastery. He eventually moved to Vavla, where he had his heroic encounter with death. On 27 August 1958, the British entered the village and searched several houses and the school in an effort to locate Parides. When they did manage to establish his whereabouts they called on him to surrender. Michalaks Parides, the unyielding freedom fighter refused to surrender. Under siege at the home of the village teacher Christos Karageorgis, where he was hiding he threw himself into his final battle crying out «Fighters for freedom never surrender They are victorious or they die». The hero fell in action in an atmosphere of heroic apotheosis with his chest riddled with the bullets of English soldiers. Fellow fighters describe Parides as a gentle, sensitive courteous affable man full of enthusiasm for the ideals of freedom and Orthodoxy. He was also a man inspired by lyrical effusions expressed through poems such as the following which was written in prison: “In the cell of my prison surrounded with bars Where the cold of the winter can only bring pain I await your arrival like the coming of spring So my hearts arid branches will flower again” The fate set by Cod you must follow, Great men Let the spirit above be your guide And within you unsleeping remain So the road to the stars be untiring. The path is so narrow and thorny The petty will strike out in rage, But your souls will fight bravely for victory Though the body may crumple and bleed. As to Ithaca victors you come, In your path will be giants and Tritons Singing sirens to enchant and bewitch, Mighty Neptune afroth with revenge. What you seek at the end of the struggle Is Penelope's pure true embrace, But if death is the ultimate outcome No more nobly could your life be lived. Verses by Michalakis Parides The five EOKA fighters who fell in the Larnaca district 1) MICHALAKIS PARIDES OF ANAFOTIA (1933 1958) FELL IN ACTION ON 27.08.58 AT THE VILLAGE OF VAVLA 2) PETRAKIS Kyprianou OF LARNACA (1939 - 1957) FELL IN ACTION, ON 21.03.57 AT THE VILLAGE OF ORAS 3) ANDREAS SOUROUKLIS OF TROULLI (1933-1958) FELL IN ACTION ON 1.08.58 AT THE VILLAGE, OF TROULLI 4)TOUMAZOS TOUMAZOU OF ATHIENOU (1934-1956) FELL IN ACTION ON 24.08.56 AT THE VILLAGE OF ATHIENOU • ARTEMOS FRANTZESKOU OF ATHIENOU (1931-1956) FELL IN ACTION ON 12.08.56 AT THE VILLAGE OF ATHIENOU | en |
