GDA1/1-8 Interviews with Greek Cypriot lace makers and their families, in Cyprus and the UK, 1990-1993

References on this page: GDA: 1

This was the initial pilot study for the larger Greek Diaspora interview project. It was focussed on the traditional lace makers of Kato Drys village, Cyprus, and their families, who often travelled widely to sell their products and sometimes settled permanently abroad, thereby forming an important part of Greek Cypriot migrant communities from the early twentieth century onwards. The interviews are the basis of the book Cyprus lace goes west (Diaspora Books, London, 2014).

GDA1/1

1990

Interviews with villagers, Kato Drys, Cyprus

Interview with Andreas and Anthoulla Vasileiou and with an unnamed former lace maker (born in 1912) on topics including their lives, the local culture and tradition of lace making, and the history of Kato Drys village and its emigrant families (duration: 28 mins). In Greek.

Interview with Styllis [Porpaxias] on his experiences during the campaign by EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston, or National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) against British rule in Cyprus, 1955-1959 (duration: 8 mins). In Greek.

Interview with the Greek Orthodox parish priest of Kato Drys on topics including the churches in the village (duration: 43 mins). In Greek.

Interview with the elected head of the village on topics including the history of Kato Drys, its emigrants around the world, and the contribution of locally born Cypriot-Scottish hotelier Sir Reo Stakis (Argyros Anastasis, 1913-2001) (duration: 33 mins). In Greek.

1 VHS tape, 1 CD

GDA1/2

1990

Interview with Nicos Pattihis, Birmingham, UK

Interview with first generation Greek Cypriot migrant and lace merchant Nicos Pattihis (born in Vavla village, 1917) on topics including: his early life and schooling in Cyprus; the history of the village of Kato Drys; the culture and tradition of lace making in Kato Drys, Lefkara and Vavla and migration from those villages; his life in Birmingham and as a travelling lace seller in the UK (duration: 2 hours 7 mins). In Greek.

1 VHS tape

GDA1/3

1990

Interview with Greek Cypriot migrants, Coventry, UK

Group interview with first generation Greek Cypriot migrants in Coventry, UK, including lace maker Markarou (Margarita) Maou (born in 1907), Styllis Vasileiou (born in 1924) and his wife Eleni Porpaxias Vasileiou, and Stella Porpaxias Gavrielatsou (born in 1932, migrated to the UK, 1952) on topics including their family backgrounds, early lives in Cyprus, and lives in Coventry (duration: 1 hour 15 mins). In Greek.

1 VHS tape, 1 disk

GDA1/4

1990

Interviews with Greek Cypriot migrants, UK

Interviews with Stavros and Maria Panayi, Manchester (duration: 11 mins), Fostirou Angelides, Birmingham (duration: 11 mins) and Markarou Maou, Coventry (duration: 13 mins), on their lives before and after migration. In Greek.

1 VHS tape, 1 disk

GDA1/5

[1990]

Interview with Nicolas G Pattihis, Cyprus

Interview with Nicolas G Pattihis (born in 1922, first cousin of lace merchant Nicos Pattihis), on topics including his family history and background in Cyprus (duration: 11 mins). In Greek.

1 VHS tape

GDA1/6

1991

Interview with Nicolas Koutsakos, Birmingham, UK

Interview with first generation Greek Cypriot migrant and lace merchant Nicolas Koutsakos (born in the village of Kato Drys, 1910) on topics including his family’s trade in traditional Cypriot embroidery and that trade’s association with Greek Cypriot migration (duration: 1 hour 33 mins). In Greek and English.

1 VHS tape

GDA1/7

1990-1993

Photographs relating to people from Kato Drys, and related papers

Copy photographs and other material collected in the course of interviews conducted in Kato Drys, Cyprus, and among Greek Cypriot communities in the UK, including: an unnamed wedding couple, Kato Drys, 1947; Sir Reo Stakis (Argyros Anastasis) and Nicolas Koutsakos, Birmingham, 1948; the Pattihis family, Kato Drys, c 1955; a Stakis family wedding, nd; a genealogical family tree for the Pattihis and Stakis families.

1 file

GDA1/8

1993

Recordings from a fieldwork tour around the village of Kato Drys, Cyprus

Recordings made during a tour around the village of Kato Drys, Cyprus, including interviews with Nicolas Koutsakos, Styllis Vasileiou, Eleni Porpaxias Vasileiou, and the (unnamed) elected head of the village (duration: 1 hour 9 mins), on topics including the history of the village and the lives of the interviewees. In Greek.

1 VHS tape