MRS EVANTHIA MAVROMATI

Date of birth: 18 March 1917

Place of birth: Aradippou, Larnaca

Year of arrival in the UK: 1947


My name is Evanthia Mavromati and I was born in Aradippou, Larnaca. I married Christaki in 1940 and we have three children - all boys. One of my cousins, who at the time lived in Blackpool, kept telling my husband, “Christaki, you are a very hard working person but you don’t earn any money here in Cyprus, so come to England where the wages are much higher’” Soon he was on his way. The year was 1946. My husband, who was a designer, pattern shoe cutter, had earlier opened a shop in Larnaca, but due to the adverse economic conditions which existed in the island we encountered many difficulties.  He had to do something.

With my husband’s departure we stayed with my brother who was very accommodating. Before long my two children, just like his own, were calling my brother “daddy”. When we joined my husband in the spring of 1947, the children were reluctant to call him daddy saying that, “he is not our daddy”. My husband then brought them some chocolates and soon enough they responded in a positive way. They acknowledged Christaki as their father.