Georgios Nikolaou a Son of Kato Pyrgos
Georgios Nikolaou, known by his pseudonym “Dafnios,” was born in 1930 in the village of Kato Pyrgos, Nicosia. After completing his education at Kampos primary school, he began working in Nicosia. It was there that he first joined clandestine groups dedicated to ending British colonial rule. A cause that ran deep in his family. He worked alongside his grandfather, Papaevripidis Ioannidis, an early EOKA recruit, and his uncle, Polycarpos Ioannidis, who the British later exiled to the Seychelles. From 1950, he also collaborated with the fellow patriot Andreas Zakos to foster national consciousness among the local villagers.
The Guerrilla Leader “Dafnios”
With the outbreak of the armed struggle in 1955, Georgios Nikolaou immediately dedicated himself to the fight. As “Dafnios,” he assumed command of EOKA operations for the villages of Pigainia, Pachyammos, Kato Pyrgos, and Pano Pyrgos. He demonstrated immense commitment by turning his own home into a secret hideout. From this base, he supplied and supported the first guerrilla cells in the Tylliria area. Also he was helping them move to a more secure, natural cave in the Flat River forest. He was a key associate and liaison for the famed guerrilla leader Markos Drakos, providing crucial assistance for numerous operations.
Martyrdom: The Cost of Freedom
On October 27, 1956, British forces captured Dafnios along with other villagers and imprisoned him in a camp near Xeros. There, he endured horrific and inhuman torture. On November 11, his brother Takis managed to sneak into the camp and found Georgios in a critical state. Georgios revealed that his captors had crushed his genitals. They detonated dynamite near him to cause deafness, and tied him up in the sea overnight. He desperately pleaded for a doctor and a lawyer.
The next day, his family returned to the camp only to learn of his death. An examination of his body revealed broken legs and a bullet wound in his back, which executioners had inflicted after he had already died. The cause of his death was drowning, as British interrogators had forced a mixture of oil and sawdust into his lungs.
An Eternal Legacy
On November 12, 1956, the unionist fighter Georgios Nikolaou entered the pantheon of heroes, inscribing his name in golden letters in Greek history. The sacrifices of EOKA’s immortal young men fill us with pride and impose a profound sense of duty. For our generation, fulfilling the ideal of unity remains a supreme obligation.
