Andrekos Varnava on the British Empire, Cyprus & why the past still matters

Born in Melbourne, Professor Vanarva’s love of history was sparked early in secondary school.

Professor Andrekos Varnava, of Flinders University, is an expert on the British empire, and on Cypriot migration.

“I loved history at school. I remember eagerly answering questions about World War I and World War II in class. When it came to selecting our VCE subjects, some of the other students made fun of me because my school did not offer history subjects, so instead I studied science.”

When he was offered a place within Monash University’s Bachelor of Arts program, Professor Varnava also enrolled in chemistry (he stresses it was ‘just for a week!’) but very quickly learnt his “heart wasn’t in science” and dropped the class to focus on history. At first, he considered becoming an archaeologist, but soon fell in love with modern European history. Soon, his research interest shifted towards Cyprus, as he discovered more about his cultural heritage.

“Not only is the history of Cyprus deeply interesting to me as a dual-national Australian Cypriot, but Cyprus, as divided nation marked with conflict going back to the 19th-century, intersects with my work as a historian of the British Empire.”

“My other big passion is tennis,” says Professor Varnava with a laugh. “But I realised pretty early I was not good enough to turn professional.”

Between Greece, Cyprus & Australia

Professor Varnava has published on themes ranging from imperial strategy, colonial development, nationalism and ethnic politics, the far-right and far-left, public health and popular culture as well as other subjects, primarily covering the period from the 1820s to the 1970s.

“Currently, I’m working on a monograph, co-authored with Professor Mike Hajimichael from the University of Nicosia, in Cypris, on the political murders of Greek Cypriots by EOKA, a right-wing terrorist group trying to unite Cyprus to Greece active between 1955 and 1959,” he says. “The book will primarily focus upon one case, the only example of a mob killing, of an ordinary worker, Savvas Menikos, in May 1958.”

Menikos, a member of the AKEL trade union, PEO, was travelling home to his village of Gypsou, when he was kidnapped, tied to a tree on church grounds, and stoned to death by local villagers.

The monograph extends upon Prof Varnava’s most recent article, published in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, which considers the 70-year history of the EOKA campaign, and it’s place in the memory, history and national myth of Cyprus.

“My current research on assassinations and political murders focuses on the context in which they happen, because it’s important to see the broader picture and understand how these incidents impact governments and communities today,” he says.

“Similarly, immigration, which is another keen interest of mine, is a subject that still dominates multi-cultural societies like Australia — which saw significant waves of immigration from Greece and Cyprus in the mid and late 1900s — and why immigration has been politicised, sometimes for the sake of creating fear amongst the community.”

Understanding our past & future

Prof Varnava is also interested in the history of medicine, having served as a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Linkage Project, Cancer culture: understanding anti-cancer campaigns in Australia from 2022 to 2025. The project analysed the development of cancer prevention campaigns to influence government policy, public health and social understanding.

“My next project will examine the eradication of malaria in Cyprus and Sri Lanka, and why Cyprus was successful during its British period, and Sri Lanka failed both during and post British control.”

“My role as a historian is to understand history and how it impacts our current day. The humanities are pivotal to helping society understand the human condition and building balanced and thoughtful citizens essential for a thriving democracy.”

In 2025, Prof Varnava was named Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History.

“I am excited to be at the forefront of new research on imperial, colonial, and post-colonial history,” he says. “What I see as specifically exciting is the re-evaluating of past narratives through both the decolonising and de-nationalising of the historical record. Through this, we are seeing a much more complex and inclusive understanding of empire and nationalism, and their legacies.”

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