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‘So’, I asked Papou, ‘Why did everyone leave?’

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‘But you used to have pots and pans in your house, and your poor and you don’t pay taxes… they used to come into your home and take your pots and pans, and they used that as your taxes to the government.”

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Despite the seemingly serene village life, it was not easy for ordinary people to get by. As Papou says, most parents wanted a better life for their children. And for most young men especially — that required moving to a new country entirely. 

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That’s why I have cousins in England, Australia, and South Africa — for decades Cyprus had the largest emigration rate in the EU. It was a Cypriot diaspora that began in the 1930s and ramped up throughout the 50s and 60s, primarily motivated by the lack of economic opportunity on the island.  The road towards a better life, mostly, wasn’t a road at all – it was a journey across the sea or through the air, to places all across the world.

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Cyprus has a long history of impoverishment under foreign rule. After 400 years of Ottoman rule, the British arrived in Cyprus in the late 19th century. Not long after, in 1925, the island was declared a crown colony. The British asserted authoritarian rule to modernize the country — showing intolerance towards both Greek Orthodox Christians and Muslims. Cypriots were denied democratic participation in government until 1959.

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Mainly, people lived in rural areas, and illiterate. There wasn’t a prospect of moving classes. The British established dominance, and Greek Cypriot elites were few and far between. The desire to move on to another country was not specific to Papou’s family — rather it penetrated the culture of the island at the time.

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When talking about the culture of emigration in Cyprus, Kathy Burrel (2006) notes:

 

“Young men on the threshold of adulthood had always been encouraged to travel in order to display their honor, courage and freedom... The Greek-Cypriots are a proud nation, a proud people — hard working people…moving to improve, and prove, the economic welfare of the family was a powerful social and cultural statement”. 

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One emigrant from Cyprus called Yannis was quoted in Teerling & King (2011) with a similar perspective as Papou:

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“We came for a better life, because in those days things things were different in Cyprus. We didn’t have many jobs… we were poor. Circumstances at the time back home, they were not very good, no prospects at all.”

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The people of Cyprus, especially for those living in small villages and towns that dot the countryside, placed extreme importance on family. The idea was that the best thing for one’s family was to have your sons move to another country — and hopefully return one day with an education, higher social status, and money. Therefore, though Papou left the island as a teen, the commitment and connection to his family back home remained with him throughout his life.

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