Ezekias Papaioannou

Ezekias Papaioannou (Greek: Εζεκίας Παπαϊωάννου; 8 October 1908 – 10 April 1988) was a Greek Cypriot communist politician and secretary general of AKEL.

He was born in the village of Kellaki, Limassol District, and received his secondary education at the American Academy of Larnaca with financial help from his brother. In his last year of school, because of health reasons, he moved to Nicosia where he finished his studies at The English School, Nicosia. He then worked as a miner in Skouriotissa (Foukasa) and as a manual worker in Piraeus port.

He moved to London in the early 1930s, where he actively worked with the Communist Party of Great Britain against different fascist factions. During this time he was arrested and jailed for three months by the British authorities. During his time in Britain he became a founding member of the Association of Cypriot Affairs which sought the expulsion of the British from Cyprus.

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. 15 of them died and Ezekias was injured and had to return to London. Cyprus had the biggest percentage of volunteers and dead per capita of any country fighting against Francisco Franco.

After the war, he lived in London and worked as a milkman.

With the start of World War II Ezekias tried to enlist, but was refused because of his old injuries and poor health. Not able to remain idle, he joined London's air defence where he served until the end of the war. In 1945 he was asked by AKEL to return to Cyprus where he remained until the end of his life.