Savvas P. Pafitis was born at Kyrenia, Cyprus, in 1911 and had four younger brothers and a sister who died at a young age. He was the eldest son of Panayiotis Pafitis from Drousia, Paphos and Evanthia Manti, from Lapithos, Kyrenia. Panayiotis’ parents, Savvas and Theodora, had settled at Kyrenia in the late 19th century as tenant farmers.

Under British colonial rule, the 1920's and 1930's, were extremely trying times for the people of Cyprus. It is no wonder, therefore, that like other Kyrenians before him, Savvas decided to immigrate in search of a better future. These however, were also trying times for Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt and the USA, all traditional routes for Cypriot immigrants. Africa, held possibilities and that’s where he went.

Dr. Ersi Demetriadou
October 2012

Savvas P. Pafitis (1911-1991)

http://mkp-archive.blogspot.com/
Savvas P. Pafitis
Mr. Pafitis was born on November, 1911, in Kyrenia, Cyprus. He went to school in Kyrenia, and subsequently, to the Greek High School and Kyrenia English School.

He came to Rhodesia here he engaged in business, mining and farming activities, and established a series of trading stores in the Native reserves. Through these activities, and by virtue of having come himself from a Colony, he came to have an intimate understanding of the African, and was a pioneer in various undertakings which benefited the Africans. In the Zvimba reserve, where he found Africans laboriously grinding their meal on stones, he introduced a mill for grinding the meal: ‘this’ to quote the Rev. Matthew Hushike, “represented a milestone in the development of the people in the reserve.” He also found a barter system in operation, by which people were exchanging their grain for clothing. He at once discontinued this system and began offering cash payments for grain, which brought money and prosperity into the reserve. He established confidence with many Africans who are today leaders of their people, such as Stanlake Samkange and Mr. Chikerema, and this confidence he has never lost. He helped many of them to obtain their education, and the connection he established through this means has been of tremendous use up to the present day in making him a trusted intermediary between the races. Seeing this thirst for education among the Africans, a thirst which he knew well from his own people, he realized then the great potentialities among that race, and that one day they would reach maturity; the seed of African advancement was then planted in his mind which has now developed to its present stage.

In 1935 he married Miss Eve Passaportis, of an old Rhodesian family, which had been in Southern Rhodesia since 1896. His father-in-law walked from Beira to Salisbury when he first arrived here. Mrs. Pafitis, who was presented at Court in 1955, is the sister A. Com. Theo Passaportis, at present commanding the 2nd Battalion, King’s African Riffles in Lusaka. There were two sons of the marriage, of whom the eldest, Peter, is in business with his father, and the youngest, Costa, was head boy at Prince Edward School (the largest secondary school in S. Rhodesia), and then went to Sandhurst, where he finished as senior under officer; at the age of 25, he is now a Captain in the First K.A.R. stationed at Zomba.

During these years in the reserves, and through their gold mines, farms and trading stores, the whole family grew to have an intimate, day-to-day knowledge of African life and mentality. During these years, also, he pioneered in many aspects of farming: for example, while the Electricity Supply Commission was still in the process of formation, Mr. Pafitis was the first farmer in the Hartley district to bring electricity to his farm. At that time other farmers were hesitant, but followed his lead, with the result that the electricity grid was developed in the Hartley district; by means of this, Mr. Pafitis established an irrigation scheme, drawing 2,000 gallons of water p.m. from the Umfuli river, and growing potatoes and other vegetables under irrigation, which in 1935 was completely unknown in that area. He was also the first to grow wheat in the Hartley district. His father having been a grower of Turkish tobacco in Cyprus, Mr. Pafitis experimented with the crop, and pressed for a scheme by which Turkish tobacco growers could be brought out from Cyprus to establish this as a peasant crop and train Africans in its production. Had this scheme been established in 1946, when he proposed it, many beneficial results might have been obtained, but unfortunately at that time it was difficult to find people with vision in these matters.

Unfortunately, Mr. Pafitis and the children developed bilharzias, obliging Mr. Pafitis to bring his family to Salisbury in 1950, where he at once interested himself in various business and philanthropic activities. In 1951 Mr. Wilson, head of the Society for the Blind, visited Southern Rhodesia, and Mr. Pafitis, among others, was invited to meet him. Although at that time he was not a rich man, Mr. Pafitis, on hearing of the needs of the blind, immediately sat down and wrote a cheque for ₤1,000, to be used for the diagnosis and treatment of trachoma among Africans. It is understood that as a result over 40,000 cases of trachoma have been diagnosed. Mr. Pafitis continued to keep in close touch with his African friends from the reserves, and when crops failed as a result of bad seasons many of them, now old and penniless, made a practice of visiting him, and he never failed to give them every assistance to keep going; nor has any charitable organizations ever had to appeal to Mr. Pafitis in vain.

In 1952 Mr. Pafitis was made Vice-President of the Greek Community of Salisbury and District, and in 1953 he was appointed President, a position which he continued to hold for seven years, until 1959. In those days the Hellenic Community was comparatively unknown, with no church or adequate center, and in a chronic state of financial difficulty. The Community possessed a small plot of land in Jameson Avenue, which they had bought for ₤600 from the British South Africa Company, in the days when the Company was governing the Colony; they had already sold half this stand, but Mr. Pafitis engaged in negotiations with the Company, and sold back to them, for a very substantial sum, the remaining half, which is now the site of Charter House. With the proceeds of the sale, and with various contributions from members of the Community (of whom he took the lead in contributing the first ₤1,000), Mr. Pafitis established a fund for the purchase of the land, which is now the site of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral and the Athenaeum Hall. He saw to their completion, first the Cathedral and then the Hall, a fine modern building which has been of benefit to all groups in Salisbury, and is still the major hall serving the needs of the whole community. The foundation stone of the Cathedral was laid by the first Governor-General of the Federation, the late Lord Llewellyn, who, at a party in Lourenco Marques, when asked by the President of the Greek Community there about the situation of the Hellenic Community in Salisbury, replied: “As long as Pafitis is the President, it’s bound to go ahead.”

In 1954, Mr. Pafitis was decorated by the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria (one of the oldest Sees in Christendom) with the highest Order of St. Mark, in 1955 he was made a Commissioner of Oaths for Southern Rhodesia, and in 1957 he was decorated by the Greek Government with the Gold Cross of King George I (equivalent to the C.M.G.)

In 1952, with his keen business acumen and foresight, Mr. Pafitis bought the then Clewer Mansions in Union Avenue. In those days, the only hotels in Salisbury of any standing were the Grand and Old Meikles, which were quite inadequate to house the flood of prospective immigrants and businessmen passing through Salisbury; and Mr. Pafitis became aware that many prospective settlers were being lost because, during those boom years from 1954-8, they could find no comfortable quarters in Salisbury and were thereby discouraged from remaining. He immediately thought of converting Clewer Mansions into a first-class hotel. The original estimates of the conversion amounted to ₤33,000, but these quickly snowballed to ₤100,000 (the cost of converting an old building being always heavier than the cost of new building); upon this news, rumours began to circulate in Salisbury that the proposed conversion was being abandoned. Mr. W. D. Gale, the then Federal Director of Tourist Development, made a personal appeal to Mr. Pafitis not to drop the scheme, as it was essential for Salisbury’s prestige and future potentialities as a tourist center. Upon this appeal, Mr. Pafitis decided to go ahead with the scheme, with the result that thousands of visitors were assured of a comfortable night’s accommodation, with many beneficial effects to industry, tourism and the country in general.

In 1956, the Southern Rhodesia Government were in acute need of office accommodation. Mr. Pafitis tendered success fully to provide this, and then set about the task of constructing the 19-storey building which now houses many Government offices as well as the new part of the Ambassador Hotel. The task of financing and constructing this enormous building was really too much for one man, but with his usual courage Mr. Pafitis went ahead, obtained finance from outside the country, and completed the construction of Ambassador House at a time when Government was unable to undertake a major operation of this kind.

In 1957, long before multi-racialism was generally discussed, let alone accepted, in Southern Rhodesia, the Kabaka of Buganda visited Salisbury on his way from Madagascar. Government House was full of visitors, and the Government were at a loss to find accommodation for him. As soon as Mr. Pafitis heard this, he invited the Kabaka to stay at the Ambassador Hotel. As a result, he received many insulting messages and telephone calls, but ignored these, and the Kabaka was so delighted with his reception that he still retains kind memories of his visit, and often sends messages of goodwill to Mr. Pafitis.

At about the same time a Mr. Bennet, an American Negro, came to report on the Federation on behalf of the Ford Foundation. He was an extremely cultured man, and the first sight of the only accommodation offered him, at the then Federal Hotel at the edge of the African townships, so sickened him that he offered to sleep in a car rather than face such quarters. One of the officials accompanying him immediately suggested appealing to Mr. Pafitis for help; this was done, and on hearing Mr. Bennett’s difficulties, Mr. Pafitis immediately offered accommodation at the Ambassador. Mr. Bennett, who fully realized the position, offered to remain in his room throughout his stay so as not to embarrass Mr. Pafitis and turn away other clients. Mr. Pafitis then offered to put him up at his own house, but Mr. Bennett persisted with his plan. Mr. Pafitis then said that if Mr. Bennett wished to stay, he must eat in the dining-room and be treated as an ordinary guest and that if he received any insults during his stay he was to retort to it and give back as good as he got. Mr. Bennett then enjoyed a comfortable stay at the hotel, and still keeps in close touch with Mr. Pafitis through the present director of ‘Operation Crossroads’ in Southern Rhodesia, through which he is connected.

These various events brought home Mr. Pafitis the anomaly of the position in that educated Africans were unable to find suitable accommodation in Salisbury, and as early as 1960 he approached Sir Edgar Whitehand, the then Prime Minister, for his support in making the Ambassador Hotel multi-racial. The position was made more acute when it was rumoured that the major cooper companies, which had been subsidizing the Jameson Hotel to the extent of ₤3,000 p.m., had decided to return the hotel to its owners and to discontinue their support. It was obvious that a multi-racial policy was extremely risky financially, since it was something that at that time general public opinion, as well as the hotel trade in general, utterly opposed, and for a private individual, unsupported by large financial interests, to take such a step was risking financial ruin. The prospect, however, that the Jameson might be obliged to close its doors and that the Capital City of the Federation would then be quite without facilities for non-white visitors, determined Mr. Pafitis to take the risk, and after receiving Sir Edgar’s blessing for the venture in January 1961, he proceeded with the necessary preliminaries for the venture, finally, in July, 1961, before the results of the Referendum was know, he applied for a multi-racial license. Since then, his policy has become far more generally accepted among both hoteliers and the general public, but the sensation which this bold step caused at the time, will not be soon forgotten. Today, although his pioneering policy has spread to other hotels in Salisbury, the Government and private organizations still approach him first when distinguished visitors of colour have to be accommodated, since they know that he will do everything in his power to make them feel at home, and that they can rely on him entirely to go beyond the requirements of a hotelier in offering them hospitality and every possible service. Both Mr. Kaunda and Mr. Nkomo (as well as Mr. Tshombe in the past) make a point of visiting Mr. Pafitis for his advice and help, and it may not be generally known to what extent he has acted as intermediary between the Nationalist leaders and the various Governments and political parties here. On hearing rumours that Mr. Pafitis was going to live in Northern Rhodesia, Mr. Nkomo personally begged him to stay, since he was badly needed here as one of the few Europeans whom both sides could trust.

Almost immediately upon the inception of the hotel’s multi-racial policy, Mr. Pafitis begun to consider further ways by which the educated African could be brought more into contact with the public life of the country and with the educated European in general, and the idea of a non-racial man’s Club seized hold on his imagination. Despite massive discouragement from many sides, he persisted with the idea, and finally saw his efforts brought to a successful conclusion when in December 1962, the National Club was opened on premises in the Ambassador Hotel. If the Club had been opened in August, 1961, when Mr. Pafitis first started developing the idea, it would have made even more impression upon African nationalists, who had begun to believe that all European promises of co-operation and social integration were pure hypocrisy. As it is, both Mr. Kaunda and Mr. Nkomo have visited the club, and it has received the widest support from men of goodwill of all races, who quickly recognized the need for such a club once the idea had been proposed. It must be emphasized, however, that both the initial idea, and the carrying through to a successful conclusion, must be laid entirely to the credit of Mr. Pafitis.

Mr. Pafitis’s latest venture with the object of African advancement, which again is entirely non-political and confined to the sphere of practical progress, is to offer shares in the Ambassador Company to Africans, thus establishing a precedent for Africans to become shareholders in a public company and thereby to enter the stock market. This scheme is still in the process of formation, but as it develops it will be seen to be a pioneering project of vast potential, and of eventual great benefit to the middle-class African.

Although it is 36 years since Mr. Pafitis left Cyprus, he was not indifferent to the troubles which developed in his homeland, and he kept closely in touch with Lord Llewellyn, who was a personal friend of the late King George of Greece and had worked with him during the war, in a joint aim to remove whatever misunderstanding had arisen between the British and Greek peoples over the matter. On the 1st February 1956, then still President of the Greek Community, he addressed a telegram to Archbishop Makarios, begging him to accept an honorable solution of the problem which would benefit all parties, and to remember the close ties of Anglo-Hellenic friendship. For this he was bitterly attacked by many of his fellow-countryman, and the criticism was intensified when the then Mr. Lennox-Boyd visited this country and had a private meeting with Mr. Pafitis; this became so acute that it was necessary for the Prime Minister to issue a statement to the effect that Mr. Pafitis had discussed only personal matters with Mr. Lennox-Boyd, who was an old acquaintance. In fact, Mr. Pafitis continued his efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement, in correspondence with Lord Harding and with Mr. Johnston, the then Secretary and now High Commissioner of Cyprus, a close personal friend. As a British subject, he appreciated the British as well as the Greek point of view, and refused to be discouraged by the bitter personal attacks he received from other Greeks. He felt, and still feels, a deep appreciation of the British connection, and a trust in the British people, and always counseled his fellow-countrymen, and now his African friends, that this trust would not be betrayed, and that they could always expect fair dealing from Britain. He continued to act as go-between the Colonial Office, Archbishop Makarios and the Greek Foreign Minister, and counseled an early settlement of the problem on terms which, had they been accepted in the beginning, would have been far more favourable to the Greek Government and the Greek residents of Cyprus than the settlement which was finally reached.

This was recognized by the Greek Foreign Minister, and in 1959 Mr. Pafitis was appointed Honorary Council for Greece in the Federation. At that time the Greek Consulate was obscure and little regarded among the diplomatic posts of Salisbury, but Mr. Pafitis’s appointment was warmly welcomed, above all by Africans, who informed the Greek Government that Mr. Pafitis was generally trusted among the African people and that his appointment was most opportune. Since that time, the Consulate has become a Consular-General, and Mr. Pafitis is now the doyen of the honorary Consular Corps, and has done his best, not only to promote the interests of the Greek Government, but to assist in the re-creation of the goodwill between British and Greek peoples which was so gravely threatened by the Cyprus troubles. In 1960 he was decorated by the Greek Red Cross with the Cross of the White Eagle (equivalent to the O.B.E.)

It is understood that a number of his African friends have approached both the British and Greek Governments for some further form of recognition for Mr. Pafitis’s efforts to promote inter-racial harmony. It is known that a group of African M.P.s have put forward his name to the Federal Government, which is believed to be completely unheard of, in that a European should be proposed by Africans for an award. The Africans, both Nationalist and Moderate, both in Northern and Southern Rhodesia, have gone on record in informing the authorities, both in Athens and London, that any award to Mr. Pafitis would be considered as an award to themselves, as recognition for a man of goodwill, with deep feeling, both for the point of view of Colonial peoples and for the British point of view, and whose only aim in life is to see a peaceful and prosperous nation where colour is a secondary consideration, and where harmony and progress reign.

Posted 3rd October 2012 by Ersi Demetriadou
Labels: Kyrenia Savvas Pafitis Zimbabwe Κερύνεια Σάββας Παφίτης
2 View comments

ersiedOctober 5, 2012 at 12:10 PM
Frixos Psiloyenis wrote on Oct. 5, 2012

KYRENIANS IN RHODESIA (ZIMBABWE)

Reading the biographical note on Savvas Paphitis published by Ersi Demetriadou on Cyprus History Notch, whom I thank enormously, brought back to me wonderful memories of the years we spent in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). I went there in 1956 and worked for 5 years for the construction of KARIBA HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT ON THE Zambesi River, including one of the largest concrete dams ever built. Damming of the Zambesi river created the largest manmade lake in the world, 220 km long and 40 km maximum width. There were so many KYRENIANS living in Salisbury (now Harare) in those days that I felt as if I went back to Kyrenia. There I also met Savvas Paphitis a prominent member of the Greek community as well as a respected businessman. He helped many of his relatives and other KYRENIANS to emigrate to Zimbabwe (a British administrative entity known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland) which was booming economically in those days. I also met his brother Costas Paphitis married some years before to Aphroditi (Vitou) Vrahas, my English professor at Kyrenia Gymnasium. Also his younger brothers Kiriakos, Gianni's and Pampos were there. Pampos, my friend and schoolmate in Kyrenia, was married to Nitsa Taglianou also from Kyrenia. Other KYRENIANS that I remember meeting in Salisbury were Doros and Giorgos LIVERDOS, Antonakis Antoniades and his wife Chloe from Morfou, Gianni' Yorkis, Stellakis Vrachas and his wife Mirofora (she was my classmate at Kyrenia) Dimitris Dimitriou (Yiashashas) and his wife Koralou, Kotsonis and his wife Marina Taglianou, Panchos , etc. My father and mother, my sister Kiki and her late husband NONIS FOTSIOS were also living in Salisbury. My brothers RENOS and LELLOS arrived later on. Those were the days of the golden age of Rhodesia, with its temperate climate, beautiful African landscape, wildlife and economic development in all fields. There was a large, united and respected Greek community comprising mainland Greeks and Cypriots, with their community club, school, church all built with their own effort and money. I remember Pampos, with his fine tenor voice, singing during church mass, as he used to do in Kyrenia. At one time a Greek, Denis Divaris, was appointed Mayor of Salisbury, The beautiful capital city of the Federation, built at an elevation of 1500 meters, having a subtropical temperate climate throughout the year, tall commercial buildings, fine residential areas, wide jacaranda lined streets. Another small part of paradise on earth. After Kariba dam was completed I was transferred to Ghana to work on AKOSOMBO DAM, but on every occasion I kept going back to Rhodesia. I intended to settle there sometime and for this purpose I bought a beautiful house next to my sister's in Highlands, in which I never resided. After Rhodesia’s independence things were not the same as before so people started abandoning the country. Almost all Greeks left for South Africa or Cyprus. My note is intended as a tribute to all KYRENIANS that have emigrated overseas during the postwar years, in search of a better future, in the hope that they would some day return and spent their retirement at their HOMELAND. Unfortunately, their dream has not been fulfilled, some, like myself, have been condemned to a permanent exile. On the other hand, my compatriots and friends that stayed in Cyprus and suffered the Turkish invasion, lost much more, lost their homes, their livelihood and in many cases their loved ones. Personally I bear compassion and huge respect for these people.

Reply

Zack PatiniosOctober 21, 2012 at 12:13 PM
What a wonerful letter Frixo, it brought back memories of my youth. During those wonderful but short years I lived in the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. As a young kid at the age of 16 I remember at my father's "Kafeneion" in Kyrenia, Cyprus serving coffee to an old man, who settled back to Kyrenia after a long stay in Zimbabwe, and listening to his stories with awe about a country called Rhodesia in Africa. Little had I known that 4 years later I would be emigrating there myself. Pafitis family is the reason why a lot of Kyrenians either directly or indirectly ended up in Zimbabwe. Panayiotis Pafitis, father of Savvas, was married to my grandmother's sister, and he baptized my mother as well as my sister. Names you mentioned, like Antonakis Antoniadis, is my Kaladelfo (Godbrother), his mother Maritsou, baptized me and she was the sister of Evanthia (Panayiotis Pafitis' wife, from Lapithos). Although my stay in Zimbabwe was very short due to the civil war and frequent call ups in the Rhodesian army to fight a war in which I didn't believe in, I hurriedly left to South Africa, where I still live. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country despite the fact that the present leaders and the political upheavals brought the country to its current economical state. It is still a wonderful country to visit. I still have plenty of friends and relatives living there, and every time I have a chance to visit, I grasp it. By the way, I know your brother Reno, who was living in Empangeni at one stage, being in partnership with my cousin, Kiki and Argiri Hadjifanis. I believe he lives in Cyprus now, please give him my regards.
Regards, Zack Patinios