On September 30, 1961, an 11-year-old girl from Cyprus saw a letter she had written a few weeks earlier published in the British teenage magazine Girl.
The young writer was Mary Angela Barnett, who had chosen to address fellow teenagers by writing about the history of the island where she was growing up: Cyprus.
Years later, she would become known as Angie Bowie, the first wife of legendary British singer David Bowie. Through her, Cyprus would acquire a small but distinctive place in the British artist’s musical journey.
The same letter resurfaced 55 years later when the English-language daily Cyprus Mail republished it on January 11, 2016, following Bowie’s death one day earlier.
In the letter, Mary Angela introduced herself as an 11-year-old living with her parents in Xeros and described Cyprus’ role in Mediterranean history, from Richard the Lionheart and the Apostles Paul and Barnabas to the Rock of Aphrodite and Mount Olympus.
She signed the letter: “Mary Angela Barnett.”
A childhood shaped by Cyprus
The childhood text sheds light on the relationship Angie had already developed with Cyprus.
She was born in Agios Dometios, Nicosia, on September 25, 1949. Her father, George Milton Barnett, was an American of English descent who worked in the island’s mining industry. Her mother, Helena Maria Galas Barnett, was Canadian of Polish descent.
The family lived for years in the Xeros area.
Many years later, speaking to the Guardian, Angie recalled the beautiful Cypriot sky and palm trees among her earliest memories. Even as a teenager attending school in Switzerland, she made sure to return to Cyprus for Christmas and summer holidays.
She described her attachment to the island in more emotional terms in an autobiographical text titled “Land of Passion”, published on her personal website in 2000.
She described herself as “Cypriot by temperament” and wrote that the island was “in my heart”, recalling the smells, places and people from her childhood.
She continued visiting Nicosia regularly until the summer of 1974, when the Turkish invasion divided the island.
A song over the telephone
Angie met David Bowie in London in April 1969 through their mutual friend Calvin Mark Lee, an executive at Mercury Records, with whom she was working.
Angie was 19, and Bowie was 22.
She later recalled a dinner between the three of them at the Dumpling Inn in Soho, after which she spent the night with Bowie. Their meeting soon developed into a relationship.
At Christmas that year, while Angie was in Cyprus with her parents, Bowie called her from Britain and sang her a new composition over the telephone.
The song was “The Prettiest Star”, which he had written for her.
She recalled smiling and feeling more in love than ever, charmed that her boyfriend had sat down and written a song for her.
Two days later, she had flown back to London and arrived at Mercury Records’ studio, where guitarist Marc Bolan recorded the instrumental part of the song.
“The Prettiest Star” was released as a single on March 6, 1970, produced by Tony Visconti. Less than two weeks later, on March 19, Angie and Bowie married.
Their son, Duncan Jones, was born in May 1971.
The song later appeared in a new recording on Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album in April 1973, becoming the opening track on the second side of the vinyl record.
Bowie’s trip to Cyprus
The year 1972 proved pivotal for Bowie.
The release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, together with his creation of the eccentric androgynous Ziggy Stardust persona, placed him at the centre of the British and soon international music scene.
That same year, Bowie travelled to Cyprus with his family.
They rented a villa in Kyrenia and spent their holiday there with members of his band.
Bowie was impressed by the island. During one outing, he and Angie took their young son to Lefkara, where Bowie bought handmade local embroidery for their home.
“He was very sweet,” Angie later recalled.
1974 and a sudden farewell
Two years later, Angie’s Cyprus would change dramatically.
She was on the island again in 1974 for a summer holiday. However, she had to leave Nicosia Airport hurriedly on one of the last flights as the Turkish invasion began.
“I would like one day to see my home again, the places where I played in the jewel of the Mediterranean,” she later said.
Cyprus was not simply another place among the many where Angie had lived or travelled.
In her memories, the island was connected with family, childhood, her earliest experiences and, ultimately, a sudden historical rupture.
That personal history is important in understanding why a reference to Cyprus that appeared several years later in Bowie’s music carried such strong symbolism.
“Cyprus is my island”
On May 25, 1979, Lodger was released in Britain. The album completed Bowie’s collaboration with musician Brian Eno, a period that became known as the “Berlin Trilogy”.
Bowie’s official website describes the album as strongly marked by a sense of travel and geographical escape.
The third track on the first side was “Move On”, written entirely by Bowie.
The song moves between journeys, destinations and the need for constant movement. Among its geographical references is the phrase “Cyprus is my island”.
The David Bowie connection to Cyprus offers a plausible explanation for the island’s appearance in the lyrics.
Bowie had discovered Cyprus through his first wife, travelled there with her, shared the family experience of Kyrenia and Lefkara, and knew how deeply she was connected to the place where she had grown up.
Lodger was released as their marriage was already approaching its end. Their divorce was finalised in 1980.
Giorgos Venieris, Kathimerini
Also read: Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient among top 50 thrillers of the 21st century
For more videos and updates, check out our YouTube channel
