Figure 1.--This is a British secondary school near Limassol. The boys are seen here in their summer uniform. White shirt, khaki shorts and white socks are compulsory for all ages between certain dates of the year

Cyprus is a eastern Mediterranean island. It was for years a part of the Ottoman Empire. After World War II it was controlled by the British. Independence from the UK was approved in 1960 with constitutional guarantees by the Greek Cypriot majority to the Turkish Cypriot minority. In 1974, a Greek-sponsored attempt to seize the government was met by military intervention from Turkey, trsulting in partitioin of the island. We have litle information on school uniform trends, but assume they follow Greek and Turkish styles.

Historical Background

Cyprus is an important eastern Mediterranean island. It was for years a part of the Ottoman Empire. Britain assumed administration of the island from the Ottomans (1878), subsequently annexing it (1914) after the Ottomans entered World War I on Germany�s side. After the War under the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), Turkey relinquished all rights to Cyprus. Cyprus became a Crown Colony (1925). During World War II, Cypriot volunteers served in the British forces. Hopes for self-determination by the Cypriot people however, were denied by the British, who considered the island strategically vital. A national liberation struggle began against Colonial rule and for the union of Cyprus with Greece (1955). The struugle lasted until 1959. Independence from the U.K. was approved with constitutional guarantees by the Greek Cypriot majority to the Turkish Cypriot minority (1960). A Greek-sponsored attempt ito seize the government (1974) was met by military intervention from Turkey, which soon controlled almost 40 percent of the island. The Turkish-held area declared itself the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (1983), but it is recognized only by Turkey. UN-led talks on the status of Cyprus resumed in December 1999 to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement.

School Uniforms

We have litle information on school uniform trends, but assume they follow Greek and Turkish styles.

Individual Schools

School portraits provide a great deal of information, both about education as well as popular fashion. We collect school portraits from all over the world because of the extensive information thant can be derived from these images because many countries did not have school uniforms. Thus every school portrait is a little record of popular fashions at the time. The images also offer us insights into varying national education trends. At this time we have only a few Cyprus images. We note the Aglantzia primary school in 1950. Aglantzia is a suburb of Nicosia. We also have information on a British school in Cypress. It is a secondary school near Limassol. Here we see the summer uniform (figure 1). White shirt, khaki shorts and white socks are compulsory for all ages between certain dates of the year. The rules state that the shorts must not go below the knee.

Individual Experiences

A British reader remembers spending a few years on Cyprus as a very yopung boy.

A Maltese reader tells us about his school experiences in Cyprus.

Careful, clicking on these will exit you from the Boys' Historical Clothing web site, but several are highly recommended