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- Русский
I feel a special emotion because in the presence of Lefkios Zafeiriou's sister, the renowned poetess Frosoula Kolossiatou, today we honour the memory of the poet, prose writer and scholar who offered so much to his small homeland, Cyprus.
From his childhood home, his difficult childhood years and through the painful events that marked his life, Lefkios Zafeiriou managed to escape. He managed to find the path of literary creation and to leave his imprint in the world of letters. He never lost his optimism and became a remarkable example for others. Where others would have given up, he found a way to draw strength from difficulties, to be philosophical about things, to maintain his sobriety and a benevolent attitude towards the world and people, leaving unquenched the thirst to go creatively through life.
One year after his death, the Press and Information Office published a travelogue to occupied Cyprus but also a travelogue that connects time with place and people. A scrapbook, documenting the "meteoric grief" of the ongoing Cypriot tragedy. Living for some time in the occupied part of Cyprus where he worked at the Rizokarpaso High School, Lefkios Zafeiriou, having as his only tool a camera, took documentary images of a harsh reality and recorded shocking narratives-testimonies of the trapped people themselves, the sleepless guards of our land. With this book, which you hold in your hands, we have fulfilled one of his wishes. It is with great regret that we did not have time to give him this wish in full.
As the Press and Information Office, we are truly grateful that he entrusted us with his photographs, his thoughts, his writings. The Press and Information Office, as the publishing arm of the state, will continue to actively preserve the history, culture and values of the Cypriot people, as well as to promote Cypriot artistic creation.
I wish to thank all of you who honour the man and the poet Lefkios Zafiriou with your presence.
Thank you to the Friends of Lefkios Zafeiriou Initiative Group for tonight's event, a beautiful memorial service, as a - truly - minimal tribute to his valuable contribution.
May his memory be eternal and long-lived.
Thank you.
(AT/MB/EXP)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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