Theodoros Xenophontos (Interview 3)

FAMREF001C

Participants
Theodoros Xenophontos (Interview 3)
Intervieweer(s)
Theo Xenophontos
Date and Location
May 29, 2022
Toronto, ON
Languages
English
Permalink
Project
Film as Mediator: Cultivating a Cypriot Canadian Community Audiovisual Media Archive
Reference ID
FAMREF001C
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Categories
Tags
Decades Referenced
Locations Referenced
Cyprus; Kyperounda (Limassol District); Amiandos Asbestos Mine; Kykkos Monastery; Kambos (Nicosia District); Machairas Monastery; Nicosia; Limassol; Paphos; Agios Neophytos Monastery (Paphos District); Church of Saint George (Paphos District); SkyDome; Bloor Street; Danforth; Titania Theatre; Fairview Mall; Toronto Public Library - Fairview Branch; Greece; London, UK
Occupation(s)
He worked as a clerk in the electrical department of the Amiandos Asbestos Mine. He also worked in the telephone exchange in Amiandos during the EOKA struggle (the telephone exchange was owned by the mining company). During this period, he also took over a gas station that the mining company owned that was initially run by a Turkish Cypriot woman who fled due to the EOKA struggle. Afterwards, he did electrical installation in his native village of Kyperounda. In Canada, he worked as an electrical foreman on the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre). In 1974, he was the Treasurer of the Cyprus Relief Fund.
Parents Occupation(s)
His parents were farmers. His father also served in the British army during World War II. In this interview, he also mentions how his father was involved in the 1948 Amiandos Miners Strike.

[00:00:24] Examining sepia tone photos from the 1930s & 1940s

[00:09:42] His father’s union activism in the late 1940s

[00:11:12] How he came to work in Amiandos

[00:13:28] Taking over a gas station from a Turkish Cypriot

[00:15:50] The importance of the kafenio in Cypriot life

[00:17:28] Grivas supporters bullying his son in 1973

[00:20:09] His sister’s home being burnt down during the coup

[00:23:53] His opinions on Afxentiou, EOKA, and EOKA-B

[00:26:30] Going to the Titania & renting Greek films on VHS

[00:28:43] How he differed from most Cypriot parents

[00:31:04] His siblings level of education and work lives

[00:34:08] The Cyprus Relief Fund and other memories of 1974

[00:37:52] Photos from the opening of a 1974 memorial

[00:41:21] Uses of various communication technologies

[00:44:18] Discussing familial obligations

[00:45:32] Going through photos from Cyprus, circa 1980s

[00:50:35] Going through Super 8 footage from 1973

[01:01:46] VHS footage of a traditional Cypriot wedding

[01:08:30] VHS footage from a 2001 trip to Cyprus

Photographs and videos incorporated into the interview.