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.

[4] He moved to London in the early 1930s where he actively worked with the Communist Party of Great Britain against different fascist factions.

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.

[4] After his return, he immediately got involved in local politics and in 1946 he became editor-in-chief of the newspaper Democratis and in 1949 3rd general secretary of the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), a position he held for 40 years until his death.

He worked for the next two decades to prevent all tactics of the extreme right wing elements of the island and to foster better relations with the Turkish Cypriots.