Bice Mizzi nee Vassallo was a Maltese pianist, considered among the foremost pianists of her generation. She is the daughter of composer Paolino Vassallo and Maria Anna nee Grech, and the wife of former Maltese Prime Minister Enrico Mizzi. Her first notable performance was in 1909 where she performed a recital at the Manoel Theatre under the patronage of the Bishop of Malta Pietro Pace, organised in aid of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Sliema. She also performed a recital at Wigmore Hall in London and performed at a concert by Maltese composer Carmelo Pace in 1946. Mizzi had a son, Dun Fortunat Mizzi. She died in 1985.
Dr Enrico Mizzi was a Maltese politician, leader of the Nationalist Party from 1926 and a Prime Minister of Malta in 1950. He was born in 1885 in Valletta to Maria Sofia Folliera de Luna, the daughter of the vice-consul of Naples, and Fortunato Mizzi. Mizzi studied in Gozo Seminary, read law at the University of Rome La Sapienza and the University of Urbino, and studied literature and science at the Royal University of Malta. He married Bice Vassallo and they had one son, Dun Fortunat Mizzi.
Mizzi was first elected to the Council of Government from Gozo in 1915 as Member of the Comitato Patriottico. He was arrested at his residence on 7 May and court-martialled on charges of sedition in 1917 under the Malta Defense Regulations for writings and statements against the British. He was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment with hard labour, the loss of civil rights, and the withdrawal of the lawyer’s warrant. The sentence was commuted by Governor Methuen to a ‘severe censure’, while his civil rights and warrant were restored following the cessation of hostilities in 1918.
Mizzi founded the Circolo Giovane Malta and was life president of the Societa Dante Alighieri. He was part of the Maltese Political Union coalition, whom he split and formed the Democratic Nationalist Party / Partito Democratico Nazionalista (PDM) to contest the elections for Malta’s first self Government. Later the PDN merged with the Maltese Political Union / Unione Politica Maltese (UPM) to form the Partit Nazzjonalista (PN). He was co-leader of the PN with Sir Ugo P. Mifsud (1926-1942).
On 30 May 1940, he was arrested and deported to Uganda, with another 47 Maltese people, where he remained in close contact with other members of the Partit Nazzjonalista. In 1945, the exiled persons, including Mizzi, were allowed back to Malta, where he re-entered politics and reorganised the PN. At the 1950 elections, Mizzi was appointed Prime Minister but he died three months later on the 20th December.
Mons Fortunat Mizzi was a Maltese priest and the founder of the Moviment Azzjoni Socjali. He was the only child of Prime Minister Enrico Mizzi and Bice Mizzi. Mizzi was ordered a priest in 1952 and founded the Moviment Azzjoni Socjali in 1955 amongst other trade unions and cooperatives. He was a member for many years in the Church’s councils and helped in the translation of the Vatican II Council documents. In 2010, together with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Mizzi set up the Fortunato and Enrico Mizzi Foundation to administer property, archives and other memorabilia of the Mizzi Family.