Early Life and Family

Petrakis Kyprianou was born in Larnaca on June 29, 1939. His parents, Michalis and Anna Kyprianou, raised him alongside his siblings: Chrysoula, Evangelos, Andreas, Maro, and Malvina.

He completed primary school in Larnaca and enrolled at the American Academy of Larnaca, where he reached the third grade.

Expulsion and Early Resistance

Petrakis Kyprianou was temporarily expelled from school for distributing EOKA leaflets, raising the Greek flag, and inciting his classmates to join demonstrations. Despite his expulsion, he continued studying on his own while simultaneously joining EOKA’s strike and execution teams in Larnaca.

First Operation and Life as a Fugitive

On Sunday, September 23, 1956, Petrakis participated in the execution of a British sergeant. British forces identified him, but he escaped capture. He then joined the guerrilla fighters in the mountainous region of Larnaca, where he took part in numerous missions and attacks against the occupation forces.

Betrayal and Escape

In March 1957, British forces discovered his hideout between Lagia and Akapnous through betrayal. However, the guerrillas escaped capture. They wandered for several days, with British troops chasing them, before finally reaching Anafotida.

For safety reasons, the sector commander divided the wanted men, assigning each a smaller operational area. Petrakis became responsible for the region between the villages of Choirokoitia, Vavla, Ora, and Vavatsinia. He would construct his own hideout and operate with local village teams.

The Final Stand

On his journey, Petrakis stopped for two days in the village of Vavla. He then proceeded to Ora, where his sector commander had instructed him to build a hideout.

On the second day after his arrival, at 3:00 p.m., three thousand British soldiers surrounded the village. They imposed a house-to-house lockdown, searching for him.

Petrakis Kyprianou consciously chose to fight, knowing this decision would cost him his life. He barricaded himself in an abandoned house and fought for two and a half hours armed only with a hunting rifle and twenty-seven cartridges.

Death and Legacy

When he fired his last cartridge, Petrakis attempted to break out, trying to smash through the ring of soldiers lying in wait for him. They shot and killed him.

He became the first EOKA guerrilla to put into action the spirit of sacrifice that Gregoris Afxentiou had demonstrated just weeks earlier on March 3, 1957.