Kyriakos Matsis (Κυριάκος Μάτσης) (23 January 1926 - 19 November 1958) 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 ...

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

and member of

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA ; ) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of Cyprus#Cyprus under the British Empire, British rule in Cyprus, and for enosis, eventual union with K ...

(Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston).

Early life

Matsis was born in Palaichori Morphou,

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. He received his secondary education at the

Famagusta Famagusta, also known by several other names, is a city located on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It is located east of the capital, Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime ...

gymnasium and, in 1946, enrolled at the University of

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 ...

in Greece, from which he obtained his agricultural studies degree. During the years of the Greek Civil War, Matsis traveled in various Greek Army encampments to support the nationalist side. In 1948, he testified as a defence witness in the trial of Yannakis Drousiotis, a Cypriot

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

captured by the Army, stating in court that the defendant's motives were "pure" and "not traitorous." Drousiotis was sentenced to death by firing squad but was eventually not executed and survived the war.

EOKA

Matsis, along with his uncle George Matsis, joined

in 1955, soon after the organisation was established by

George Grivas George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorg ...

, a Greek Cypriot

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Greek Army, and started armed operations against the British colonial authorities. In 1956, Matsis was caught by the British and imprisoned at the Kokkinotrimithia prison. He managed to escape, and fled onto the Pendadactylos area, where he continued working for EOKA, taking up command of military operations in the

Kyrenia Kyrenia is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region of Kyrenia has been populated before, ...

region.

Death

On 8 November 1958, a bomb exploded in a

NAAFI The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the United Kingdom, British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their fam ...

canteen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

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 ...

killing two British soldiers and injuring seven others. EOKA did not claim responsibility for the action. Nevertheless, the British authorities intensified their search for Grivas and the chief lieutenants of EOKA, focusing on intelligence from local sources. On 19 November, during a search by the security forces undertaken on the advice of an informer, Kyriakos Matsis along with two other EOKA guerillas were discovered staying at the house of Kyriakos Diakos, in Dikomo, near

. Matsis destroyed all the papers and letters he was carrying and directed his comrades to surrender. After he was asked to surrender himself, he eventually responded that if he were to come out, he'd come out shooting. He was killed by a grenade in the gun battle that ensued. His body was buried by the British authorities in the special yard, inside the Central Jail of Nicosia. Subsequent to this operation, it was made clear by the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

that the military in Cyprus should "finish off the job" and find Grivas.

John Profumo John Dennis Profumo ( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo affai ...

, the junior Office minister, oversaw a special executive order to speed up the flow of military material to the island. The village where Matsis was killed is now under the control of the internationally unrecognized Turkish-Cypriot

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

Family

His younger brother, Yiannakis Matsis (b.1933), was elected

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

with the group of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

, from 14 June 2004 until June 2009, when he did not seek re-election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsis, Kyriakos 1926 births 1958 deaths Cypriot people of the EOKA Deaths by firearm in Cyprus People killed in the Cyprus Emergency

Early life

EOKA

Death

Family

See also

References