All of us in this Holy Temple today, and many more out there, consider him a teacher. Many people have experienced him as a teacher. No need for capital letters or exclamation points. A teacher, in the literal sense of the word, as for centuries the great teachers functioned for the race of Greeks, from the time of the modern Greek enlightenment, which sought here in Cyprus to find its face in the light of letters. A great source, gifted and inspired teacher. This is the greatest justification for a great educator and scholar, like Gabriel Minas, in this ephemeral world which he now leaves, accompanied by a fond memory and great praise in the soul of the people.
At this time when we bid him a sad farewell, we honour and thank him for what he gave to Education, to our Greek Language and to man's effort to contemplate the light of the world through the Word.
On hearing the sad news that came to us on the 15th of this month, thoughts like those that emerge from the verses of Nikiforos Vrettakos immediately came to mind.
And if somewhere among
the blue corridors
I meet angels,
I will speak to them
in Greek, because
they know no tongues. They speak
to each other with music."
Gathered in the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, to give him our last farewell, we feel that in the passage of his soul to eternity, Gabriel Minas will meet angels who will hasten to speak to him. I think that indeed, as in the poet's verses, only Greek can speak to him. In the music of this language they know that they must greet the lover and master of Greek, the initiate of the Greek spirit.
We bid you farewell, Gabriel Minas, on your way to your final resting place, and on behalf of the State I thank you, worthy teacher of Greek letters. I also convey the personal message of warm condolences from the President of the Republic, who we all know how much he appreciated you. It is with feelings of gratitude for what you have offered that I address this speech to you, knowing that whatever I say will seem small compared to the brilliance and charm that you have given to education and care for young people and for the whole world. It is with awe that I stand here today and I am sure that I convey the feelings of the educational world of Cyprus.
In his many years of service as a teacher, Gabriel Minas, with his ethos, his style, his loyalty and his fervour, managed not only to transfer knowledge and skills to his students in full, but to instil inspiration through the virtues that emanate from our literature, Greek education and Greek culture. Virtues that fascinated and captivated through his teaching and approach, because they took on their true dimensions, as synonymous with the person of Man, universal and true. In his approach he did not distinguish truth from knowledge. But even this knowledge was not a possession or even a thing, but was a striving, a noble struggle and a conquest of complex and critical thinking. In his teaching, and in his presence in the school, he gave at all times the stamp of the democratic way and intellectual freedom, not as a statement and affectation, but as a way of life. That is why I think he managed to make his students and colleagues feel that which always remains the pedagogical origin of knowledge, as I think Stelios Ramphos very wisely put it: 'study requires love and we love what elevates us'. Gabriel Minas succeeded in making others feel that knowledge and the Greek language elevates them and thus make them love it.
But here I need to remind you that his concern was not limited to the teaching of his students, but extended more broadly to the whole of society. He was an adherent of the principle that men of letters need not be confined to the circle of intellectual men, but ought to open themselves to the wider society. He addressed himself to every human being. He sought, always with love of knowledge and commitment to truth, to converse constructively with all his fellow citizens. He wrote ceaselessly, seeking to come into communion of thoughts and ideas with the citizen, the Greek Cypriot citizen. He never hesitated to point out and criticize what was wrong. Without arrogance or antagonism, but with anxiety for the ideal of "kalon kagathon" according to the ancient Greek model. The ultimate goal of his tireless efforts was to see his beloved Cyprus free from every aspect: political, social, national, but above all spiritual, because he considered this kind of freedom above everything else. With a special voice of concern and anguish, his two-volume work "The National Self-Reliance of Hellenism in Cyprus". In which he painfully identified and recorded shortcomings and errors that led to the catastrophe of 1974. Of particular importance, however, both for teachers and for all Greeks who seek self-consciousness and self-existent cultural existence, are his books on the Hellenic Language. Such as "The Education of Speech" or the practical guide "Improve your Greek". That is why we pay special tribute to the deceased for his dedication and contribution to the cultivation of Greek, the greatest cultural asset we have.
Gabriel Minas was born 88 years ago, in 1934, in the now occupied town of Kythrea. He had the opportunity to study and graduate in 1952 from the classical section of the great nursery of Greek education, the Pancyprian Gymnasium. With a scholarship from the State Scholarship Foundation, he studied Greek Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Later, he received further training in Pedagogy at Norman University in the United States and in Educational Administration at the American University of Beirut.
Initially, he was appointed and served as a Philologist at the Pedoulas Gymnasium, under the direction of the well-known teacher Konstantinos Giallouridis, who participated as a volunteer in the Greek epic of Northern Epirus in 1940. In those years, in the midst of the legendary national liberation struggle of EOKA, with his high school principal playing an important role in the region, he himself took part in the struggle as a team leader in groups supporting the revolutionary organization in the region of Pedoula. He thus lived, and through the hard experience of armed practice, the assertion of the spiritual principles he stood for.
Married since December 1959 to the philologist Julietta Kostopoulou, they had four children. His wife was always a valuable partner in his daily life and in his spiritual struggle. I extend my sincere condolences to his beloved wife, children and all those close to him.
In those early years of independence he worked at the Pancyprian Gymnasium and the then newly established Pancyprian Gymnasium of Kykkos. As Headmaster he served a total of 22 years in the schools of the 1st Gymnasium of Morphou, the Strovolos Lyceum and the Acropolis Lyceum, from which he retired in 1993. He also taught at the Cyprus Pedagogical Academy, as well as at the University of Cyprus, the Teaching of Greek Language. He was a member of several special committees of the Ministry of Education for the study of educational problems. Of particular importance, however, was his contribution to the trade union leadership of teachers. He played a leading role in defending the educational function and the integrity of the institutions involved.
As a philologist he earned the deepest appreciation of both his thousands of students and the teachers who were fortunate enough to serve with him and experienced his inspiring guidance as a school principal.
His concern for educational matters and the course of Greek education in this country will always accompany and stimulate us. I read from his pen: "For Cypriot Hellenism, Education is not only a public function that will help the individual to develop his abilities, to be able to realize his dreams, to satisfy his interests and ambitions. Above and beyond all, this Education for Cyprus is a national affair "par excellence", it is a social service that cannot but be wholeheartedly committed to the inseparable struggle for the national survival and glorification of Hellenism in Cyprus. It is Education that will mould and provide Cyprus and the nation with those select citizens who will not only want but will be able to proudly carry on their shoulders the priceless ancestral heritage, who will not only want but will be able to promote and honour Hellenism internationally with their works and their contribution, who will not only want but will be able to be vigilant guardians of national honour and irresistible and tireless assertors of national rights".
For remarkable people we lose we are wont to note that with their loss we become poorer. But what can generally be heard as commonplace, in the case of Gabriel Minas, is literalism. We lose a fervent hymn writer of the quality, the gurgling flow and the unique metals of language and spirit it conveys. We lose a dedicated patriot who at every moment inspired love for our Cyprus and its Greek way. We are losing a tireless champion of the fundamental values of education, but we rejoice in his memory, because those values he believed in and chiselled remain!
His soul, a sample of which he generously deposited among us, the Lord, free from the bonds of matter, will give it rest. Having done his duty in full towards letters, education and his country, he is set free. His memory will be honoured silently or even unconsciously by thousands more of his students and associates who can walk in a good way, with the principles and values he inspired, with the precious words of Greek conscience he instilled.
Eternal be his memory and light and watered by the juices of the Greek language he loved, the soil that will cover him.
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
