Reno Wideson

For the first time ever, here is the complete life story of one of my favourite Cypriot photographers, Mr Reno ‘Evriviades’ Wideson. Reno Evriviades was born in Larnaca on the 12th of December in 1920. He was one of five children born to Odysseus Evriviades and Olvia Soudia (Soundia). His siblings were Ismini (born in 1916), Andreas (born in 1918), Nitsa and Corina. Reno’s father, Odysseus Evriviades was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1896. He adopted the pseudonym Wideson when he was editor of the school magazine at Canon Newham’s English School in Nicosia. He thought an English sounding name was more appropriate so the name Wideson remained and was thereafter adopted by his children and grandchildren. Odysseus became a prominent Greek Cypriot journalist with the Cyprus Mail newspaper and a member of the Board of Larnaca School. He had a very special and loyal relationship with the British government officials in Larnaca. Reno’s mother Olvia Soundia was also from a well-known and respected family. She was born in the village of Lefkada (Lefke). Her parents were Angelos D. Soundias [1856-1913], and Corina Pierides [1857-1938]. Angelos and Corina came to Cyprus in 1878 from the Ionian Islands in Greece. Angelos served as a municipal councilor in Larnaca from 1908 until 1911. Olvia’s sisters Kika and Froso were well respected and distinguished teachers of French and Commerce at the Pancyprian Commercial Lyceum of Larnaca. They were decorated by the French Government and a laneway in Scala was renamed in their honour. Reno’s grandfather Evriviades Antoniades was a prominent and distinguished figure and regarded as an important benefactor of old Larnaca town. He born in Larnaca in 1857 and at the age of fourteen, he left for Alexandria, Egypt in search of a better life. After many difficulties, he managed to become wealthy through his activities with the Hellenic Club of Alexandria. In 1894, he married Eleni Nikitaidou (from the Greek island of Symi) and together they had a son, Odysseus (Reno’s father). Evriviades Antoniades returned to Cyprus and Larnaca at the beginning of the 20th century where he bought a beachfront mansion that had once belonged to Richard Mattei [1826-1893] for 120 pounds. There is an interesting story about the Mattei mansion. Apparently, back in 1878, the first British commissioner to Cyprus, Sir Garnet Wolseley promised to make Scala the new capital of Cyprus if Mattei agreed to rent him his mansion. Mattei refused and Nicosia remained the capital of Cyprus. In 1906, Reno’s grandfather Evriviades donated 1,600 pounds to help build a much-needed girls’ school in Larnaca. The new school was built on a field donated by Demosthenes Mitsis. The school was later renamed the Evryviadeion Gymnasium in honour of its generous benefactor. Reno’s grandfather also spent quite a bit of his own money converting the old Mattei building into a hotel which he named the Grand Hotel. Construction began in 1907 and was completed a year later. The new building included a large multi-purpose hall, a luxury café and a theatre where plays by Greek troupes and local amateur groups were performed. After Evriviades died in 1909, his wife Eleni rented the Grand Hotel to various businesses. In the 1920s and 1930s it was used by businessman Nikos M. Kyprianou as a theater and cinema under the name “PATE” (Pathé – French film company) until the Salon Rose cinema opened its doors (in the place of the current REX cinema). In 1920, the year that Reno was born, his father Odysseus bought a large property on the foreshore of Scala and devoted part of the space to the family home. The same building housed the Greek Club of Larnaca and a kafenion (coffee house) owned by Michalis Taraboulsis (Tripolitis). In 1930, Odysseus sold the Grand Hotel to the tobacco manufacturer Dimitrios Dianellos who changed the name of the establishment to Sun Hall. In fact, it was Reno’s father who suggested the name Sun Hall because the logo of the Dianellos company featured a sun. The Sun Hall was used as a social and theatrical venue until the outbreak of the Second World War. After the war the building was converted into a warehouse and offices for the Dianellos tobacco company. From the age of eight. Reno would accompany his father Odysseus on various excursions around the island. At that time, his father worked as a local tour guide for English and overseas tourists who were disembarking at the port of Larnaca. Reno’s father would hire an automobile and drive the tourists to various places of interest including Famagusta, Salamis, Nicosia and Troodos. For young Reno, this was a rare and wonderful opportunity to see Cyprus and learn as much as he could about his cultural heritage. In fact, by the time he turned twelve, he knew the history of Salamis by heart. At times, his father would sit him on top of a small column at Salamis and ask him to recite his knowledge of the ancient ruins to groups of admiring tourists. I can only assume that young Reno had a good command of the English language by then. When he wasn’t accompanying his father or tour guides, Reno enjoyed living at the beachfront of old Scala during the 1930s. In a 2016 interview, he describes one of his most vivid childhood memories from that period. “I remember the annual religious procession on Epiphany Day (6th January). From our balcony, I would watch the Mayor of Larnaca, Dimitris Dimitriou and other dignitaries following the bishop, priests and deacons of the Church of St. Lazarus in their colourful robes as they walked towards the pier. After prayers and an appropriate liturgy, the Bishop would throw the silver cross into the sea and young boys would dive into the icy waters competing for the honour of retrieving the Cross.” Reno also remembers that during the summer, all the children would play on the beach. “We used to jump over the newly planted palm trees along the beachfront. We all played football and tennis on the beach or we swam and played water polo or fished off the pier.” The seafront along Athenon (Athens) Avenue (now known as the Phinikoudes promenade), was a bustling sea port scattered with fishing boats and small shops and open-air coffee shops. Up until 1946, all the shops and cafes along the popular avenue had dirt floors. It was a common sight to see waiters and shop keepers sprinkling the dirt floors with seawater to try and keep the dust from blowing around. During Reno’s blissful upbringing, the beachfront promenade began to develop into one of the island’s most popular destinations. The council introduced hanging baskets of flowers and greenery along the steps leading down to the pier. Reno’s older brother Andreas once described the seafront as a pleasant and interesting location for young people to visit for their evening strolls. ‘These evening strolls eventually became known as the lovers’ walk,’ he wrote in his memoir. ‘There was a strict moral code that existed in Cyprus at that time that restricted young boys and girls from meeting or talking with one another. The evening strolls along the Phinikoudes soon became the only place girls and boys could meet, even if at a distance.’ Sometime in 1932, newspapers in Cyprus began advertising a competition by the Nestle’s chocolate company offering the prize of a Kodak Brownie camera to any child who could find the hidden stamp of a ‘nest’ inside the wrapper of a chocolate bar. The Nestlé’s trademark logo was based on the owner’s coat of arms, which featured a bird on a nest. In a 2012 interview with Panicos Chrysanthou, Reno recalls how the Nestle’s competition changed his life and sparked his lifelong desire to explore photography. “I bought and ate so many chocolates at that time to try and find the hidden folia (nest),” he remarks. “As it turned out, my friend Yiankos Pantelides found the hidden stamp of the nest and he won the camera. Of course, I was upset. In order to comfort me, my father bought me a brand-new Box Brownie. It was my first ever camera. (The Box Brownie cost around five pounds in the early 1930s). That’s when I began taking photographs. I would stand on the balcony of my house and photograph the paralía (beach) below. Some of my first photographs were of the dock and the barges in the harbor, the yachts and boats in the bay and the young palm trees along the promenade. The first photograph that I ever printed however, was of a mountain in Oroklini.” Some readers may know that the Kodak photographic company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1930 by distributing half a million Brownie cameras to children in the United States and around the world. By introducing photography to young children, Kodak hoped to instil a lifelong obsession with photography which would consequently boost their film sales. The idea certainly worked with young Reno Wideson. His box brownie camera had one shutter speed (about 1/30s) and one aperture setting (about f/16) and used 120 film which produced eight 2 ¼ by 3 ¼ inches prints. As a budding young photographer, Reno was also influenced by Hungarian-born German photographer Leopold Glaszner who had a studio in Larnaca and was one of his father’s closest friends. “I was in and out of Glaszner’s studio and darkroom. That’s where I learned the art of photography. I even bought most of my films from there. I owe a good deal of gratitude to Glaszner for a hobby that has given me a lifetime of pleasure.” After attending the Kalogeras School in Scala, Reno and his brother Andreas both attended the Pancyprian Commercial Lyceum of Larnaca. Andreas studied accounting, English and French at the Lyceum graduating in 1934. A year later, he was hired by the Cable and Wireless company in Scala as a wireless operator and telegrapher. Reno on the other hand, went on to study at the English School in Nicosia for two years graduating in 1936. He then returned to Larnaca and found a job working at the A.L. Mantovani and Sons Ship Agency. Antonio Lorenzo Mantovani set up his company in Cyprus in 1856 and over the years his sons, Peter, Victor, Umberto, Laurent and Antonio (Nino) took over the family business in various roles of administration. The main office was on the ground floor of the family house which was situated on the corner of Stasinou and Zinonos Kitieos streets in Scala, next to the Barclays Bank. In the 1930s, Mantovani expanded the company with offices in Limassol, Famagusta and Nicosia. The shipping agency represented Lloyd Triestino and after 1936, the Adriatica Lines which carried passengers and cargo in the Mediterranean. The company then expanded into booking travel for passengers travelling to Italy and Australia on ships such as Lloyd Austriaco and Lloyd Triestino. In the 1930s, the company began organising shore excursions for passengers on visiting cruise ships chartered by American Express. One of Reno’s main jobs at Mantovani was to board the ships and meet the passengers and to help them organise their excursions and tours on the island. “I did not receive any wages during my first year at Mantovani but after that, I was paid 25 shilling a month.” When Reno was around eighteen, he bought himself an Ariel Red Hunter motorbike which allowed him to travel around the district of Larnaca taking photographs of people and landscapes along the way. He also setup his own darkroom at home to develop his own prints. After working at Mantovani for two years Reno left to go and work for the British Land Surveyor’s office in Larnaca. “This was a difficult and scary job for me,” he recalls. “I had to try and establish the correct title holders for various properties in the district. It was very difficult. Thankfully I was able to switch jobs when the ‘paymaster for the roads’ position became available. I remember earning around five pounds a month and I would travel to all the villages in and around the district on my motorcycle to pay the men who made or fixed the roads for the government. This was the first job that brought me pleasure.” Sometime in 1939, Reno met a street musician who had a stall on the promenade and also shared an interest in photography. Reno agreed to exchange his motorbike for the man’s Leica camera. “From that day forward, I became obsessed with photography and taking proper professional-looking photographs,” he recalls. After the outbreak of World War Two, Reno decided to join the Cyprus Regiment of the British Army. In the early years of the war (1939-1942) his brother Andreas had also joined the Regiment and was sent to Haifa, Palestine where he worked as a wireless operator. Reno served as an officer in the Regiment until the end of the war in 1945 but he continued to work for the British Forces in Cyprus until 1949 as the director of the Supply Department for the Royal Army Service Corps in Larnaca. By all accounts, he had an impeccable service record and his superiors intended him for high administrative positions. Interestingly, Reno’s father Odysseus was employed by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the war to help them seek out any Nazi sympathisers or German spies that were hiding in Cyprus. Apparently, there was a lady in Nicosia working in a brothel who was actually a German spy. Odysseus was codenamed ‘Constant’ by the British and he worked together with a lawyer named George Rossides (codenamed Gunner). They sometimes employed other Cypriot men to try and identify any fascist sympathisers. The so called ‘whisperers’ each received a payment of between £2 to £8 a month. Only Odysseus and George Rossides knew that the scheme was supported by British intelligence. In 1942, Renos had reached the rank of Major in the Cyprus Regiment. He was given the task of finding accommodation for a number of British officers. He visited a large house in Nicosia with a view to requisition part of it for this purpose. The house belonged to Sophocles Petrides. It was there where Reno caught sight of Sophocles’ daughter Maroulla (known as Mary). Reno was instantly captivated by the young girl and before long had asked for her hand in marriage. She was only seventeen and in her final year in high school. (Sophocles had studied in Manchester as an electrical engineer and had married Maisie French from Tunbridge Wells while in the UK). Sophocles agreed, provided that Mary finished her studies when they could be engaged for the then normal two year period and if all went well they could be wed. In March 1945, Reno Evriviades Wideson married Maroulla (Mary) Sophocleus Petrididou in the historical church of Agios Lazarus in Larnaca. In the summer of 1946, Reno and his siblings Andreas and Corina opened a periptero (kiosk) on the ground floor of their family premises which they called the Widesons’ Tea Room. This was the first place in Scala where locals could get toasted sandwiches, ice cream and milk shakes. The ice cream and cakes were made at home by their mother. The Widesons’ Tea Room was also the first place in Larnaca to serve filtered French coffee. By 1947, the Wideson’s Tea Room became a much-loved venue and was expanded to hold dinner dances and musical breakfasts. In May 1947, Reno and Mary welcomed the birth of their son Angelos, followed by another son named Sakis in May, 1951. Reno left the Cyprus Regiment and the Royal Army Service Corps in 1949 to go and work at the newly established Cyprus Tourist Development Office which was directed by George F. Jarrett and located on Konstantinou Paleologou Avenue (near Metaxas Square) in Nicosia. “I left the Regiment to return to the Civil Service,” Reno states. “Officially I was the Hotels Inspector but in practice I was a Jack-of-all-trades. When the need for photographs arose for travel brochures, calendars and general advertising then that became my primary concern at the Tourist Office. With this job, I had a marvellous opportunity to travel extensively to get to know and photograph Cyprus in all seasons.” Reno was eventually appointed as the main photographer for the Cyprus Tourism Development Board. His boss at the time was the celebrated poet and writer, Lawrence Durrell. It’s interesting to note that Reno was not Durrell’s first choice for the position. In fact, Durrell wanted to employ his good friend and distinguished English photographer, Sterling Henry Nahum (known as Baron). Baron however wanted to be paid 120 pounds which was out of the question. It was the Acting Governor of Cyprus, John Fletcher-Cooke who insisted that Durrell should appoint Reno Wideson for the job stating that the Cypriot would be more suitable and a much more affordable photographer. “I used to travel around the island in my Morris Minor,” recalls Reno. “I knew the Mukhtari (headman) in every village as well as the rural guards. I had very friendly relations with everyone. A typical day was waking up very early in the morning and then traveling until late in the afternoon. I always had my camera with me. The camera was an extension of my hand and the (photographic) process continued in the darkroom.” By the late 1940s, many Greek Cypriots began to express anti-British sentiments and a desire for Cyprus to become part of Greece. Durrell had hoped that Reno’s photography would help to show all the good things that the British had achieved in Cyprus and turn the island into a popular tourist destination. Reno on the other hand saw a marvellous opportunity to travel extensively around the island and get to know and photograph his island home and to capture and preserve the authentic Cypriot landscape and way of life. Because the Tourist Development Office had a tiny staff and a small budget, Reno relied heavily on any free publicity he could get from the local and visiting journalists. He hoped that the journalists would agree to publish his photographs to show potential overseas visitors what the island had to offer. Since a large part of Reno’s work involved advertising, he took the opportunity to visit and photograph many traditional rural villages and landscapes as well as the remote and isolated areas on the island. “I started to take photographs with a Roleflex camera that I had bought especially for this occasion,” Reno explains in a 2012 interview. “The photos I took were used in various brochures to help promote Cyprus to the outside world. I was also responsible for meeting international journalists to show them around Cyprus. As I criss-crossed around the island I would always stop to photograph something that caught my eye. If I saw anyone working in their fields, I would always approach them and politely ask them if I could take their photograph. Everyone was always so obliging. I think they were grateful that someone like me would take an interest in them or in what they were doing. They were more than happy to pose for me. They saw the act of being photographed as a form of respect. That I would consider what they were doing as being important – that they were important. Not one person complained or refused to have their photograph taken by me. I think they knew that I honestly loved the rural inhabitants. I always felt safe wherever I went in Cyprus, even travelling at night. I always felt safe. Sometimes if I was lucky, I would arrive at a village during a festival or when a wedding was taking place. That was always extra special for me. It all happened by chance.” “I always had my camera with me, whatever I did,” adds Reno. “When I was riding around Larnaca on my motorbike I discovered many remote and isolated villages. The arrival of a visitor was a big event and my popularity was undoubtedly enhanced by the fact that every month I arrived with wads of cash. One such favorite village was Odou at the foot of the Troodos mountain range. It had a special charm and I organised my itinerary so that my lunch break coincided with my arrival there. Over time I developed a great liking for the village. The people were very friendly.” It is important to note that Reno Wideson used a variety of medium-format cameras during his working life as a photographer including the Rolleicord and Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex, the Series One Hasselblad, the Rolleflex 5166 SLR and the Pentacon Six SLR. Some of his 35mm film cameras included the Exacta Varex IIb, the Exacta RTL1000 and the Zeiss Icon SLR. In 1950, part of the Wideson house in Larnaca was demolished to make way for the construction of the Four Lanterns Hotel. Over time, the hotel expanded from 15 rooms to 70 rooms. Another floor was added in 1963 which included a large ballroom with a capacity for 300 guests. Although it was locally known as the ‘Tessera Fanaria’ (Four Lanterns), many locals would simply say ‘let’s go to the Widesons’. The Four Lanterns was a first-class hotel that soon became the centre of entertainment and social gatherings in Larnaca and become a popular and well-loved venue for many dances, weddings, parties, lectures and recitals. During the summer, people would meet in the open-air areas and on the terrace, but also in the comfortable lounges. Life during the 1950s appeared to be more carefree and everyone knew each other and greeted each other in a natural act of friendliness. According to Reno’s nephew Evros (his brother’s son) the Four Lanterns Hotel played classical music from 11am until midday and thereafter the patrons were invited to select the music themselves until midnight. Many dignitaries from around the world stayed at the hotel and many famous Greek and international singers would perform there. Local resident, Antonis remembers visiting the Four Lanterns as a young man. “We used to go to the dances there. People would sit at the tables to have their drinks with meze. I remember Turkish boys would try to sell us jasmine flowers for a penny that we could give to any girls that we liked.” Antonis also remembers the Scala beachfront from that time “There were very few cars in those days,” he says. “Mostly bicycles. It was a place for people to go for a stroll and for the girls to walk up and down and for us to admire them. Next to the Sun Hall Hotel there was a place which had family shows and there was a cabaret there too. There were three piers and one was used for loading the salt which the donkeys had collected from the Salt Lake. Fishermen would wedge bamboo sticks into the ground in a cross shape and they would lay their nets on them to dry. Large boats would anchor in the bay ready to be loaded up with their cargo. Students had to leave the beachfront at 6pm in case the school guard saw them and reported them to the school. In the summer when the days were longer, students were allowed to stay out till 7pm.” It wasn’t until the 1950s, when the Scala beachfront began to be known as the Phinikoudes or ‘palm tree’ promenade with its striped painted wooden cabins scattered across the sand. Reno’s nephew Evros remembers growing up at the beachfront during the 1950s. “Larnaca was a lot quieter in those days. Everyone lived close to the Phinikoudes. There was a series of simple buildings with canvas awnings, the chairs were wooden, the tables were iron. You could see the Phinikoudes and the open horizon and the sea from where you sat in those days. Now you sit in these glasshouses along the beach and you can’t see anything.” In 1953, Reno decided to exhibit a number of his original black and white photographs in Nicosia. The exhibition was so well received that Reno decided to publish his first book titled Cyprus in Picture. At times Reno would invite the celebrated Cypriot painter Georgios Pol. Georgiou to accompany him on his trips to various villages and festivals. “Come with me and you might find something you like to paint,” I told him. “We drove around in my Morris Minor and listened to the popular Greek and Cypriot songs on the radio.” On one of his many photographic expeditions, Reno decided to visit the church of the Holy Cross of Agiasmati (a 15th century church) in the district of Nicosia. “I remember getting lost on the way to find this church so I stopped in the village of Platanistasa to ask a village girl for directions. She told me that the church was about five miles away on a dirt road. After I arrived, an elderly caretaker appeared with the keys to the church. He even helped me set up my camera and lights. I took photographs and eventually we returned to the village. Even though I had taken more than two hours of his time, he insisted on the traditional offer of coffee and a glass of cold water and enthusiastically continued to ask about my interest in the church. As I was about to leave, I realised that I had left my wallet back at home and embarrassedly confessed that I would not be in a position to offer him anything for his help. He protested that no reward was expected and offered to lend me some money for a return trip. He bid me farewell with the customary, ‘sto kalo’. This memory remains vivid and dear to me as it symbolises the Cypriot character. I have encountered the same combination of intense curiosity with warm, generous hospitality many times during my travels around the island.” In 1955, Reno published a second book of photographs titled ‘Portrait of Cyprus’ In fact, his boss, Lawrence Durrell who by now had gained a greater appreciation and respect for his work, wrote in the preface of the book that Reno was a ‘poet of the camera.’ Sometime in 1956, Reno was approached and asked to join the Cyprus Broadcasting Television Service. “My connection with photography led to a course in cine-filming and so when the experimental television station was set up by the Cyprus Broadcasting Television Service in 1956, I was appointed Head of Films. This again involved extensive travel to places of interest across the island.” Reno served as Senior Officer of the Chief Secretariat and was responsible for the establishment of a film unit. He was later appointed the director of the film department at RIK (1956-1959). According to his friend Demetrios D. Aris, Reno Wideson was one of the most popular men on the island during the 1950s. He remembers how Reno would greet incoming tourists at the airport dressed as an air force pilot or if the tourists arrived by ship, he would arrive at the port dressed as a sailor. The mid-1950s proved to be a very frightening and difficult decade for Reno and his family. His father Odysseus had been branded as a traitor by the nationalist group EOKA for his support of the British and for his involvement with their Special Operations unit during the Second World War. In fact, his pro-British stance and his anti-enosis views (union with Greece) would ultimately cost him his life. On Saturday the 28th of April, 1956, Reno was informed that his father was shot and killed by an EOKA assassin in a side street near his home in Larnaca. Reno later discovered that before his father was murdered, he had written a letter to the Commissioner in Nicosia stating; “I have always fought for the freedom of thought, speech and justice. I am ready to make the supreme sacrifice in fighting for these principles and ideals. People should not be shot down like dogs in the streets, in hospitals and on their premises. I know I will pay a heavy price for being pro-British and speaking my mind, but nothing will close my lips.” As Reno raced back in his car from Nicosia to his home in Larnaca, he tuned into a radio station from Athens and heard the following broadcast. ‘Odysseus Evriviades Wideson was a traitor. He was against Enosis and he openly opposed the plebiscite for Enosis in 1951 and fought against the Greek journalists who were in favour of the plebiscite. Two attempts against his life did not serve to bring him back to his senses. The third attempt was effective – Wideson fell dead last Saturday. This is the end for traitors. His death, although a hard blow for his family, is the payment of the necessary price for purification.’ As you can imagine, Reno and his family were devasted. Cyprus was changing in front of their eyes – and not in a good way. Now his father Odysseus was dead, murdered at 63 years old. Reno decided it was time to leave his beloved homeland to live abroad forever. In 1959, he packed his bags and together with his wife Mary and their two sons, Angelos (aged twelve) and Sakis (aged eight) Reno left Cyprus and emigrated to England. Once there, he accepted a job as a film operator for the BBC at their Ealing Film Studios in the district of Ealing in West London. The following year he became their Film Operations Manager for the new medium of Television. At its peak, Ealing Studios had 56 film crews who used the studios to film dramas, documentaries and other programmes. There were over 50 cutting rooms working on every genre. “Although my duties with the BBC were in no way connected with Cyprus, my production colleagues knew of my links with the island and on a number of occasions I was asked to accompany production teams and act as a guide in location hunting. Every time I visited Cyprus on holidays, I would always bring my cameras. This is how I came to accumulate such a great number of pictures.” In 1961, Reno took his family on a holiday to Spain. He was so captivated by the country that he returned there on numerous occasions and began to regard Spain as his second homeland. Reno continued to visit Cyprus during the 1960s and 70s. Renos’ brother Andreas was a successful journalist during some very difficult times on the island. He became a correspondent for the Eleftheria newspaper, the Cyprus Mail magazine and the R.I.K Television Unit. In the 1960s, he was kept busy managing the Four Lanterns Hotel along with his wife and children. Many famous Greek artists and Cypriot personalities visited the hotel at that time, including Nana Mouskouri, Aliki Vougiouklaki, Spyros Kyprianou and Anna Fonsou. Andreas also loved music. He co-founded the Larnaca Philharmonic Orchestra in 1942. In later years, he played in the R.I.K. Concert Orchestra and founded the Larnaca and Famagusta Classical Music Association and the Salines Trio / Quartet performing several concerts throughout Cyprus. Reno was fortunate to have visited Kyrenia and the north of Cyprus whilst on holidays in April 1974. He took special care and interest to photograph picturesquely villages and people in the traditional world that he knew and loved. Little did he know that his photographs of the region would be the last documentation of that traditional Cypriot world before the Turkish invasion in July that year would change that world forever. When Reno’s brother Andreas retired as hotel manager in 1989, the Tourist Organization took over the management of the hotel. Sadly, the Four Lanterns Hotel was demolished by the local council in 2009. Sometime in the 1970s, Reno returned to Cyprus with a BBC film crew looking for locations for a documentary. “I decided to take the team for a nostalgic look at the village of Odou,” he remarks in an interview. “It had been 20 years since I had been there. As we approached the village, an old man appeared and looked at me with a deep, searching expression: ‘Mr. Reno’, he finally said with great curiosity. To my surprise, he remembered me from my younger days. The news spread fast and he excitement in the village was just as I remembered it was all those years ago.” Reno worked at the BBC for seventeen years and held various senior positions including Head of Film Operations. He retired in 1977 at the age of 57 in order to spend more time with his family in Buckinghamshire and to devote more time to his other great passions of painting and photography. Despite the fact that Reno Wideson lived most of his life in England, his focus was mainly on the Mediterranean beauty of Cyprus and Spain and the warmth and hospitality of its people. After discovering the Spanish island of Menorca in 1963, Reno began spending his summers there with his family until the beginning of the 21st century. Reno Wideson passed away in March 2020, aged 99. His wife Mary died the following year aged 95. Mary was always a devoted wife and mother who willingly sacrificed her own time for her husband’s career and photography. She was described fondly as ‘the glue that kept the whole family together’, even through some difficult times. Thankfully, in their final years Reno and Mary managed to greet and love two of their great grandchildren. Without a doubt, Reno Wideson is now regarded as one of the most important and prolific Cypriot photographers. It is estimated that he took around 35,000 photographs of Cyprus including rarely captured images of village and agricultural life during the 1950s. He published four photographic books including: Cyprus in Picture in 1953, Portrait of Cyprus in 1955, Cyprus: Images of Lifetime in 1992 and Cyprus Remembered in 2010. As an amateur photography, it is my honour to pay tribute to such an important Cypriot and photographer. I’m kicking myself for not having the foresight to contact and visit Mr Wideson in England when I had the opportunity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Reno’s son Sakis Wideson for his support and contributions. Special thanks to Reno’s nephew Evros A. Evriviades, Antonella Mantovani and Dr Marios K. for their kind help and support.

SOURCES INCLUDE:

Book: The Finikoudes Beach of Skala by Dr. Marios Kyriazis. Book: Larnaca, the Old Skala by Agnis M. Michaelidi (1983) Reno Wideson interview – Politis Sunday Magazine, dated 21 August 2016.