Ezekias Papaioannou

Infobox_Politician
name = Ezekias Papaioannou
"Eζεκίας Παπαϊωάννου"


caption =
birth_date = October 8, 1908
birth_place = Kelaki, Cyprus
residence =
death_date = April 10, 1988
death_place = Cyprus
office = 3rd General Secretary of AKEL
salary =
term_start = 1949
term_end = 1988
predecessor = Fifis Ioannou
successor = Dimitris Christofias
party = AKEL
religion =
constituency =
majority =
spouse =
children =
website =
footnotes =

Ezekias Papaioannou (October 8, 1908 – April 10, 1988) was a Cypriot communist politician and Secretary General of the left wing political party of AKEL.

He was born in the village of Kelaki, Limassol District and received his secondary education at the American Academy of Larnaca. He than worked as a miner in Cyprus and as a manual worker in Piraeus port.

In 1936, he was part of a contingent of 60 Cypriot leftists who volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War as part of the International Brigades. After the war he lived in London (and worked as a milkman) before returning to Cyprus. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Thorns Among the Laurels | date=Monday, Dec. 26, 1955 | publisher= | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808005,00.html?iid=chix-sphere | work =Time Magazine | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-14 | language = ] He then got involved in local politics becoming Secretary General of the Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) in 1949, a position he held for 40 years until his death. In 1960, following the independence of Cyprus from the British Empire, he was elected to parliament. Papaioannou was repeatedly re-elected and served as a member of Parliament for 28 consecutive years up until his death in 1988.

In his will, he left all his assets to his party. [cite book | last = Larkou | first = Larkos | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = ΔΕΚΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΕΣ ΦΥΣΙΟΓΝΩΜΙΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΟY "(Ten Political figures of Cyprus)" | publisher = | date = January 2008 | location = | pages = | url = http://www.larkoslarkou.org.cy/e-book_deka%20prosopa.shtml#7 | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

References