Last update - 00:00 28/12/2006
Prodromos Papavasileiou, 1919-2006
By Michalis Firillas
The first time I met Prodromos Papavasileiou, at an event of the Cyprus-Israel Friendship Association, I was surprised. Before me stood an 80-year-old whose frailty and physical stature belied an unusually firm grip and sparkling eyes, radiating youth and energy. But it was when he began to talk, clearly and with no notes, that I realized that I had met a giant.
Prodromos, known as Papa to many of his Israeli friends who found it difficult to pronounce the Greek name that means "pioneer," died last Saturday, and was laid to rest yesterday in Limassol, his adopted city. His passing at the age of 87 is a great loss, not only to Cyprus that he cherished with all his soul, but to Israel as well, the country he loved even before its independence was declared, and to which he contributed endlessly since his early encounters with Jewish soldiers in the British army stationed in the Middle East. Indeed, Papa felt that the hopes and aspirations of the Jews and his people, the Greeks of Cyprus, were shared, each seeking independence from British rule.
Leon Uris may have been inspired by the character of Prodromos in his epic Exodus. Papa and his compatriots, who offered assistance to the 52,384 Jewish refugees interned in camps between 1946 and 1949 by the British authorities, saw the blatant injustice in this act. During the 50th anniversary of the closing of the camps, Prodromos expressed the outrage he had felt: "We fought with Britain in the war and we did not want to see people who had suffered so much being held in camps in our own country."
His ties with Israel continued to deepen well after independence was attained. He became the representative of ZIM in Cyprus, with an office in his home town of Famagusta. Later, his office handled EL AL's operations in Cyprus. In 1969, he set up the Cyprus-Israel Friendship Association, an organization dedicated to closer ties between the two countries. Always at the forefront, Prodromos was a leading member of a number of commercial, social and political organizations in Cyprus.
Israel recognized his contributions and friendship on a number of occasions. Keren Hayesod and the Jewish National Fund dedicated small pine forests in his name. On the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel, the Foreign Ministry awarded him with a certificate of recognition for his invaluable contributions to Israel. He was similarly honored by then president Ezer Weizmaî who appointed him honorary consul of Israel to Cyprus.
Perhaps the best reflection of the bond between Israel and Prodromos occurred when the Turkish invasion in 1974 caught him outside the country. Friends in Israel asked him to fly to Tel Aviv, and then arranged for a small ship, with an Israeli crew, to take him and his family back to Cyprus. Israel's ambassador to Cyprus Shemi Tzur noted once that the Jewish people "never forget someone who did us a favor in a time of need," and indeed, Israel and its people never forgot, and are not likely to forget, Prodromos.