Artist: Leonidas Spanos
Location: Mosfileri Agios Georgios church. Nicosia district
Material: Marble
Dimensions: 189 cm (+15 cm the steps) x 53 cm x 44 cm
Category: Turkish Invasion
Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou
The memorial consists of Georgios Andronikou Michail’ (Γεώργιος Ανδρονίκου Μιχαήλ) bust and a commemorative stele. The initiative for the bust was taken by the family of the deceased and Mosfileri community. Next to it is situated a tall stele crowned with a flame. The flame is the sacred fire, the eternal flame. It is the symbol of the fragile and transient nature of life, but also reminiscent of the existence and the spirit of the deceased, and thus is associated with the heroic sacrifice. In Greek commemorative monuments, either in public places or in cemeteries, the flame or a torch are placed on pedestals or stele, on the tombs or on low platforms along with other symbols implicit of the identity and deeds of the deceased. In some cases, short dictums, or more rarely a bust of the dead, or a bas relief with his/her portrait make part of the commemorative place.
According to the inscription here, the stele is dedicated to “all the dead fighters who safeguarded the freedom of the village” and to the, listed as missing, Antonakis Dimitriou Georgiou (Αντωνάκης Δημητρίου Γεωργίου). His black and white photograph is placed under the inscription.
This style of black and white photographs became iconic of the Cypriot tragedy after the 1974 invasion, because of the Cypriot women and children holding them in their hands during their vigils and protests. Initially they were demanding the release of the prisoners kept in the occupied land and, later, the return of their remains.
The unveiling took place on June 26th 2005
Selected sources:
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee) 14.3.01/4, document November 12, 2002.
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