Evagoras Pallikarides
Evagoras Pallikarides (26 February 1938 – 14 March 1957) was a Greek-Cypriot poet and a member of EOKA, the group that fought British rule in Cyprus in the 1950s. He was born in Tsada in a farming family and became involved in the Cypriot struggle for freedom as a teenager.
When Elizabeth II’s coronation preparations were underway in 1953, protests in Paphos grew after Union Jack flags were raised there. A 15-year-old Evagoras climbed a flagpole and tore down the flag, an act that sparked wider protests. He joined EOKA at 17 and, in 1955, participated in a student riot linked to an EOKA operation. On 18 December 1956, while transporting weapons for an upcoming attack, he was stopped by a British patrol and arrested.
During his trial he confessed, saying he acted as a Greek Cypriot who wanted freedom. He was sentenced to death for firearms possession and was hanged on 14 March 1957 at Nicosia Prison. He was the youngest EOKA fighter to be executed. The execution drew international condemnation because of his youth and the circumstances of his arrest, and later some questions were raised about the case, including claims that the weapon he carried was not functional.
Greek authorities and others pressed for clemency, but the governor refused to pardon him. Pallikarides was buried in a secluded prison graveyard to prevent unrest. He is remembered as a symbol of Cypriot resistance, and his name lives on in Cypriot sports: the football club Evagoras Pallikarides Pafos (now part of Pafos FC) carries his name and image.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:16 (CET).