Investigators discovered the remains of at least five people at the Agios Nikolaos Cemetery in Limassol, during the second operation to locate the remains of our national poet Vasilis Michaelides, which took place on July 9.

On the Alpha News program, Marios Kariolou, a geneticist at the Institute of Neurology and Genetics, who explained how they will determine whether the remains belong to Vasilis Michaelides and how long it is expected to take to obtain results.

Mr. Kariolou first acknowledged the efforts of Giorgos Petousis, President of the Limassol Writers’ Association, who “after conducting some research, had identified a plot at the Agios Nikolaos Cemetery, which, according to claims—since we are not entirely certain— there are other accounts suggesting it might be somewhere else, but in any case, Mr. Petousis has indicated that the remains of Vasilis Michaelides may be there.”

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“The exhumation took place. At this point, we must note that the remains of at least five individuals were found. So, the effort to locate and identify the remains of Vasilis Michailidis will not be an easy one.”

According to the archaeologists and osteoarchaeologists who were there, the remains were found at various levels.

How will the identification be carried out?

Regarding the scientific process that will determine whether the remains belong to Vasilis Michaelides, Mr. Kariolou explained that samples will be taken from fourth-generation relatives, so that the male Y chromosome—which is passed down from the father to all his sons—can be examined.

“Vasilis Michailidis had a brother who got married. He had some children. Among those children was a boy, who grew up and got married. He, too, had children with a man, and that’s exactly how we ended up with the relatives in the paternal lineage—if you will—of Vasilis Michailidis.”

When asked how long it would take to get the results, Mr. Kariolou noted that “unfortunately, the bones, as I saw them yesterday, are not in good condition at all. Their condition is poor. Therefore, we anticipate that it will take us some time—perhaps three months. That’s my estimate.”

He also emphasized that the tests will determine whether they belong to the national poet under one condition: “That we actually manage to obtain good-quality genetic material from the bones we collected yesterday.”