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Leonidas Leonidou is an author and researcher, born in Agios Theodoros in the Karpas peninsula of Cyprus on October 13, 1947.
He graduated from the Greek Gymnasium of Famagusta in 1965 and in the following two years he served in the Cyprus National Guard. From 1967 to 1971 he studied physics at the University of Athens and graduated from the University of Cardiff, Wales, with a master's degree in electronics.
In January 1974 he returned to Cyprus and worked for NCR as a systems analyst up to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974 during which he served in the Cyprus National Guard 386 Battalion. After his demobilization in September 1974 he returned to Britain and joined ATV and then British Telecom (then Post Office). He worked at the BT Research Centre in the microelectronics division, on the development of data networks and subsequently headed the IT department of Greater London and Southeast England. Later on he consulted with companies in the same sector.
He was president of student and later of Greek Diaspora organizations and was actively involved in the Justice for Cyprus campaign. From 1978 he became involved with the UK Greek education and researched extensively Cyprus' modern history.
He is the author of many books amongst which the award-winning book Ayios Theodoros Karpasias, Place and People (1986), the four-volume work Georgios Grivas Digenis - Biography (1995, 1997, 2008, 2008) and the books Makrasyka, Place and People (2010), With Sword and Fire (2013) and The Last Escapee (2014). Many of his articles were published in newspapers, magazines and periodicals in Cyprus, Greece and the United Kingdom.
Makarios III was a Greek Cypriot archbishop, primate, statesman and politician who served as the first President of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, with a second term between December 1974 and 1977. He was also the Archbishop of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977.
The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus, and for eventual union with Greece.
Rizokarpaso is a town on the Karpas Peninsula in the Northeastern part of Cyprus. While nominally part of the Famagusta District of the Republic of Cyprus, it has been under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus since the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974, being administered as part of the İskele District.
Georgios Grivas, also known by his nickname Digenis, was the Cypriot founder and leader of the Greek and Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisations Organization X (1942–1949), EOKA (1955–1959) and EOKA B (1971–1974).
The Nicosia District, or simply Nicosia, is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is the island country's capital city, Nicosia. The de-facto TRNC-controlled northern part of the district is the Lefkoşa District of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Nikos Sampson was a Cypriot journalist, militant and politician, who was installed as acting President of Cyprus during the 1974 coup.
Digenis Akritas Morphou is a Cypriot sports club from Morphou, founded on 23 April 1931. The club takes its name from the medieval Greek hero Digenis Akritas, who is depicted on the club's emblem. It has a football and a basketball team.
EOKA-B or Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B was a Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation formed in 1971 by General Georgios Grivas ("Digenis"). It followed an ultra right-wing nationalistic ideology and had the ultimate goal of achieving the enosis (union) of Cyprus with Greece. During its short history, the organisation's chief aim was to block any attempt to enforce upon the Cyprus people what the organisation considered to be an unacceptable settlement to the Cyprus issue. In addition, the organisation drafted various plans to overthrow President Makarios. The organisation continued its activities until it officially declared its dissolution and disbanded on 11 February 1978.
Ayios Dhometios is a suburb located west of the Cypriot capital Nicosia. It has a population of 12,456 making it one of Cyprus's biggest municipalities. There is also a population of 2,314 within the area of Ayios Dhometios under Turkish control.
The Bank of Cyprus is a Cypriot financial services company established in 1899 with its headquarters in Strovolos.
Vassos Lyssarides was a Cypriot politician and physician who was a central figure in the politics of Cyprus after the island's independence.
Grigoris Pieris Afxentiou was a Greek-Cypriot insurgent leader who led campaigns against the British colonial government as a member of EOKA. He was second-in-command to general Georgios Grivas and used the pseudonym Zidhros (Ζήδρος), the name of a famous 18th-century brigand.
The Battle of Spilia is the name given in Greek Cypriot sources to an engagement of the Cyprus Emergency that took place in the neighbourhood of the Cypriot village of Spilia on either 11 or 12 December 1955. The engagement involved approximately 12 members of Georgios Grivas’s EOKA group and a 40 man detachment of the 45 Commando Royal Marines. In British military sources this is known as part of a wider operation known as ‘Foxhunter’ that was tasked with breaking up the EOKA presence in the Troodos mountains and capturing EOKA leader Georgios Grivas.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959.
Stratarches, means ruler of the army in Greek, and is a title associated with successful generals. In modern Greek usage, it corresponds to the rank of Field Marshal.
Myrtou is a town in the Kyrenia District of Cyprus, north of the city of Morphou. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.
The Minister of State is a position within the Cabinet of Greece.
Ayios Theodoros Karpasias is a village at the base of the Karpas peninsula of Cyprus, which dates back, in the 2nd century B.C. It is built in an area rich in archaeological sites of the earliest periods in history and attesting to a highly developed civilization in the area from the time of the Cretan Mycean civilisation. Many ancient Greek tombs, one inscription dated in the 2nd century B.C. and a milestone of the 1st century AD indicate that people formed a community at the very same location for over 2000 years. Nearby is the famous Cape Elea covered with low forest and thousands of olive trees. At the seashore the remains exist of an ancient city, Elea, destroyed by earthquakes in 343 A.D. After the city's destruction, the surviving inhabitants moved towards the site which is now Ayios Theodoros.