In the third of a special series hosted by Alexandria Innes and Georgios Giannakopoulos, guests Panikos Panayi and Giorgios Charalambous trace how Cypriots have made lives for themselves across the island’s global diaspora.

Panikos is Professor of European History at De Montfort University.

Giorgios is a PhD researcher in the Department of History of the European University Institute.

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In this podcast, recorded on 19 May 2025, we discuss the history of Cypriot economic migration and displacement, from the late nineteenth century to 1974 and beyond. In some places migrants were subsumed into a Greek diaspora, in others (London included) they established a distinct community. Panikos and Giorgios outline the shifting set of connections between this diaspora and the homeland, and how diaspora and homeland viewed each other, and how colonial politics informed these relationships.

It seems virtually impossible to be non-politicised in Cyprus after 1955. But once you leave that situation and move to London, it’s television media, the letters to your family back home…you know exactly what’s going on. And it’s traumatizing you. But on the other hand you are still developing your diasporic life in Britain. Diasporic life doesn’t mean that you are trapped in this community. If you move to London you are moving to this multicultural society, it is impossible for you to just associate with your family and Cypriot political organisations. It’s an incredibly complex picture, and one needs to dissect it at a variety of levels.

This is the third in a special series of podcasts that emerged from Partitioning for Peace,TLP’s 2024 conference at City, University of London. For an introduction to the series as a whole, click here. These podcasts were supported by the Modern Greek Studies Association Innovation Grant, and the UK Prevention Research Partnership (Violence, Health and Society; MR-VO49879/1). 

Episode 76 – The Cypriot Diaspora

Podcasts are published by TLP for the purpose of encouraging informed debate on the legacies of the events surrounding the Lausanne Conference. The views expressed by participants do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of TLP, its partners, convenors or members.

MUSIC CREDIT: Gregory Davis, Ocean View (Epidemic Sounds). IMAGE CREDIT: Movement for Colonial Freedom Cyprus Rally, 1956. HG1707/12 © Henry Grant Collection/London Museum.