Christodoulos Sozos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Χριστόδουλος Σώζος; 10 March 1872 in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

6 December 1912 in Manoliasa,

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

) was a

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 737,196 Cypri ...

politician and lawyer. He served as a member of the Cypriot Legislative Council (1901–1911), mayor of Limassol (1908–1912) and Limassol–

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

MP (1908–1912). On 7 November 1912, he voluntarily enlisted in Greek army as private which at the time was fighting in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

. He was killed in action on 6 December. His prewar activism on behalf of the cause of

Enosis ''Enosis'' (, , "union") is an irredentist ideology held by various Greek communities living outside Greece that calls for them and the regions that they inhabit to be incorporated into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea ...

and the circumstances surrounding his death made him one of the most important figures of Greek Cypriot nationalism.

Early life

Christodoulos Sozos was born in Limassol on 10 March 1872. His father and grandfather had fought as volunteers in the

Cretan Revolt (1866–1869) Cretan Revolt may refer to one of the following uprisings in Crete: Under Venetian rule * Cretan Revolt (1212) of the Hagiostephanites family * Cretan Revolt (1217) of the Skordiles and Melissenos families * Cretan Revolt (1222) of the Melissenos f ...

and the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

respectively. He studied law at the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

and worked as a lawyer before the beginning of his political career. He served as member of the Cypriot Legislative Council from 1901 until 1911, and represented Limassol–

constituency as an MP during the same period. In April 1903, he exploited the absence of a single

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

member of the council to pass a resolution which declared that the people of Cyprus aspired to reunite with their motherland (Greece). He also served as the mayor of

from 1908 until his death, his most notable achievements being the erection of the city's first public garden as well as the

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

of the street lighting, the first such occasion in Cyprus. Upon returning from his visit to Great Britain in June 1912, he became convinced that the only way for the

between Cyprus and Greece was an intermediate step of autonomous rule. His stance drew sharp criticism from his political rival Nikolaos Katalanos who described the supporters of autonomy as madmen and traitors.

Balkan War

At the outbreak of the

, Cyprus was nominally a part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, while in fact being administered by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

as agreed in the

Cyprus Convention The Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878 was a secret agreement reached between Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire which granted administrative control of Cyprus to Britain (see British Cyprus), in exchange for its support of the Ottomans during th ...

of 1878. On 17 October 1912, Sozos departed from Limassol as part of a small unit of the Cypriot Red Cross which headed to Athens in order to assist the Greek army which at the time fought against the Ottomans. His wife Ermioni Sozou, his 4-year-old son Zinon and 7 sisters were not informed about his decision as he feared that they would not allow him to leave. The ship made stops at

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

before arriving to its final destination on 23 October. On 7 November, he took part in an hour long official meeting with the Greek prime minister Eleutherios Venizelos. Venizelos became emotional and eventually gave in to his pleas, allowing him and

Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...

MP Evaggelos Hajioannou to enlist in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division as privates. On 1 November his unit reached

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, on 13 November he was dispatched to Agioi Saranta. He fought at Delvino before taking part in the

Battle of Bizani The Battle of Bizani (, ''Máchi tou Bizaníou''; ) took place in Epirus on . The battle was fought between Greek and Ottoman forces during the last stages of the First Balkan War, and revolved around the forts of Bizani, which covered the app ...

. On 6 December, Sozos was killed in action on the Profitis Ilias height, Manoliasa, outside Bizani. Despite multiple search missions his body was never recovered. News of his death reached Cyprus in the second half of December. His wife Ermioni received hundreds of telegrams offering condolences from both Cyprus and abroad, among them was one from the British High Commissioner to Cyprus

Hamilton Goold-Adams Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, (27 June 1858 – 12 April 1920) was an Irish soldier and colonial administrator, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1915 to 1920. He was married to Elsie Goold-Adams. Early life Born in the townland of ...

. Greek schools and courts suspended their activities, a court in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

also raised a flag in honor of Sozos thus breaking the law as Britain maintained a neutral stance in the conflict. Ironically Nikolaos Katalanos delivered a speech during Sozos' mnemosynon where he described him as a "hyperpatriot". Mnemosyna were also held in dozens of villages across Cyprus, as well as in Cypriot communities in Athens, Egypt and Sudan. Greek Cypriot newspapers were swept with nationalist fervor comparing Sozos with

Pavlos Melas Pavlos Melas (; 29 March 1870 – 13 October 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first Greek officers to join the Macedonian Struggle. ...

. Goold-Adams and his successor as British High Commissioner to Cyprus

John Eugene Clauson Major Sir John Eugene Clauson (13 November 1866 – 31 December 1918) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He was Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Secretary to Government of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies from 1911 to 19 ...

, praised Sozos in their last and first addresses respectively. A photo of Sozos was placed in the

Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme demo ...

. Streets were named after Sozos in Limassol and

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

, there are busts honoring Sozos in Limassol, Ioannina and Thessaloniki. Sozos' death left a lasting mark on the Enosis movement, being one of its most important events before the 1931 Cyprus revolt. The Rectory Building of the Cyprus University of Technology is named after Sozos.

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sozos, Christodoulos 1872 births 1912 deaths People from Limassol Greek Cypriots Mayors of Limassol Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni 19th-century Cypriot lawyers Greek Cypriot nationalism Immigrants to Greece Members of the Legislative Council of Cyprus