Honorable Mr. Director of Secondary Education,
Mr. President of the Cyprus Writers' Union,
Distinguished guests,
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, keeping a benevolent attitude towards the world and people, leaving unquenched the thirst to go through life creatively.
One year after his death, the Press and Information Office today delivers to the reading public a travelogue in occupied Cyprus but also a travelogue that connects time with place and people. A scrapbook, a document of the "meteoric grief" of the ongoing Cypriot tragedy. Living for some time in the occupied part of Cyprus where he worked at the Rizokarpassos Gymnasium, Zafeiriou, having a camera as his only tool, took documentary images of a harsh reality and recorded shocking narratives, testimonies of the trapped people themselves, the sleepless guards of our land. With the book we deliver today, we are fulfilling one of his wishes. To our regret, he never got to see this wish fulfilled. As the Press and Information Office we are truly grateful that he entrusted us with his photographs, his thoughts, his writings.
I wish to thank the UNESCO Chair of the University of Nicosia for our cooperation, the Office of the Commissioner for the Presidency for their assistance in this publication and to congratulate all those who contributed in any way to the completion of this work. 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.
In conclusion, I thank the Friends of Lefkios Zafeiriou Initiative Group for tonight's event, a beautiful memorial service, as a minimal token of honour for his valuable contribution.
May his memory be eternal and long-lived.
Thank you.
(PX/MX/SX)
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