MR LOUCAS CHRISTOPHI

My name is Loucas Christophi and I was born in Koma tou Yialou.  I arrived in England in November 1955.  A ship, the ‘Mesapia’, took us from Cyprus to Italy and then we travelled by train to Calais.  From Calais, we boarded a ferry boat bound for Dover and finally another train took us to Victoria Station.  I was met by friends with whom I stayed the night.  I had £100 to my name!  I did not come across too many difficulties, as I always had the help of friends and family. I then moved to Southampton.

I worked as a waiter in ‘George’s’, a restaurant owned by Michael Hannides.  After a few days, Michael decided to return to Cyprus, to marry my sister.  As a consequence, I also went back to Cyprus. However work was very difficult to find so I made the return journey back to Southampton.  Along with my sister, I worked here until 1961.  In that year the restaurant business I worked in, was demolished and so, once more, I returned to my place of birth, where I decided to marry.  I did and soon returned back to Southampton.  My wife, Athoulla and I were employed by Michael, now my brother-in-law, at his impressive restaurant.  We continued working there until the present day.  Nowadays, we work a few hours just to keep ourselves busy.

I have been blessed with two girls – Theognosia and Maria.  One of my daughters is married to an British-born Greek Cypriot, who works as a barber.  He works very hard and has always looked after his family.  This gives me great pleasure.  My other daughter lives in Cyprus.  Due to the fact that we used to visit the island on a regular basis, she simply fell in love with the place.  She worked at the airport for a few years, but recently
she moved to another job. 

After working all our lives, we dreamt of returning back to Cyprus.  Unfortunately, the invasion of 1974, made this dream an impossibility.  Thus, in a way, we were “forced” to remain in England.