Born in Vittoriosa on the 30 June 1890, Paul Boffa was educated at the Lyceum and at the University of Malta from where he graduated as a Medical Doctor in 1912. During World War I he served with the Royal Medical Corps in Malta, Thessaloniki, and on hospital ships. After the war he set up in private practice in Paola.
Paul Boffa entered politics when Malta was granted self government in 1921 and joined the Labour Party in 1923. He was returned to Parliament under the Amery-Milner Constitution in 1924, 1927 and 1932.
He was elected Leader of the Labour Party in 1927 and immediately began to instil in the workers the need of rightfully equal representation in government in order to have a say in their own affairs. He was in coalition with Lord Strickland's party in government (1927-32). In 1932 Paul Boffa was the only Labour Party candidate elected to the Legislative Assembly until it was dissolved in 1933. He was nominated as a member of the Executive Council from 1936-1939.
During World War II Paul Boffa served with distinction as district Commissioner and ARP Medical Officer in the Cottonera, Paola, Tarxien and Luqa areas.
In the 1945 elections, Dr Boffa was again elected in the Labour Party. Boffa reached the acme of his political career in November 1947 when, he became the first Labour Prime Minister. His administration was instrumental in obtaining recognition of the Maltese language in the law courts and the introduction of compulsory primary education and old-age pensions as well as the granting of the vote to women.
In 1949, following the Labour Party's ultimatum to Britain concerning financial help, the Labour Party split up but Dr. Boffa continued as Prime Minister and later founded and led the Malta Workers' Party (MWP), that lost the 1950 Elections.
Boffa was re-elected in 1951 and in 1953 and joined a coalition government with the Nationalist Party led by George Borg Olivier, assuming the portfolio of Minister of Health and Social Services. The MWP did not contest the 1955 elections and in 1955 he resigned for health reasons.
Honours:
1956 - Knight Bachelor - New Year's Honours List in recognition of distinguished public services.
1914-18 - He was also awarded the 1914-18 Star, the General Service Medal, the Victory Medal, the Coronation Medal and the Defence Medal.
Dr G. Borg Olivier, was born in Valletta on the 5th July, 1911. He was educated at the Lyceum, Malta, and the Royal university of Malta where he graduated Doctor of Laws in 1937. He obtained his notarial warrant a year later.
He joined the nationalist Party in 1939 and till 1945 he was one of the three PN representatives elected to the Council Government. With the return of responsible Government in 1947 Dr Borg Olivier was elected to the Legislative Assembly and was later Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
In 1950 he held the post of Minister of Works and Reconstruction and the post of Minister of Education in the Nationalist Minority Government led by Dr Enrico Mizzi. He succeeded Dr Mizzi as leader of the Nationalist Party, Prime Minster and Minister of Justice in a Minority Government on the latter's death in December 1950.
He was Prime Minister of Malta on two occasions: from 1950–1955 and from 1962–1971 (he also assumed, during the second mandate, the portfolio of Minister of Economic Planning and Finance).
Borg Olivier believed in the economic and social development of Malta as a viable independent state and in the necessity of a mixed economy. His administrations had pursued corporatist policies to develop the tourism industry and construction as the engine of growth. Under his leadership, average living standards rose steadily as Malta began to decouple from a fortress economy purely dependent on the British military establishment.
During his second administration he had proceeded to London to ask for a financial agreement and demand Independence with full membership within the Commonwealth. After having had a series of talks with the British Government and after preparing a Constitution for an independent Malta, which was endorsed by Parliament and approved by the people in a referendum held in February 1964, Dr George Borg Olivier set 21st September as Malta's Independence Day.
In March 1965, he became Minister of commonwealth and Foreign Affairs in addition to his duties as Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Planning and Finance.
In the General Elections held in March 1966, the Nationalist Party was again returned to power with Dr Borg Olivier as Prime Minister and Minister of Commonwealth and Foreign Affairs.
Malta joined the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth and in 1970 he associated Malta with the European Economic Community.
After two electoral defeats in 1971 and 1976, Borg Olivier resigned as Leader of the Nationalist Party in 1977. He retained his parliamentary seat until his death in 1980.
Honours:
On the 14th June, 1968, Dr Borg Olivier was decorated with the Grand Cross of Merit of the Order of Malta by the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitallier Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta.
On Independence Day, the degree of Doctor of literature (Honoris Causa) was conferred upon him by the Royal University of Malta.
On 25th January, 1964, Dr Borg Olivier was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sylvester, Pope, by His Holiness Pope Paul VI.
Byatt was born on the 22nd of March, 1875, in Tottenham, Middlesex to schoolmaster Horace Byatt M.A., of Midhurst, Sussex, and Laura (née Archer). He attended school at Midhurst Grammar School, in Sussex. He was then admitted into Lincoln College, Oxford, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1898. Following this, he worked within the Colonial Service. His service began in Nyasaland (what is now Malawi), where he stayed until 1905, then went to British Somaliland. He was appointed commissioner and commander-in-chief of British Somaliland in 1911, serving until 1914, when he became Colonial Secretary in Gibraltar. From 1914 to 1916 he was lieutenant-governor and Colonial Secretary of Malta. In 1916 he became an administrator in British East Africa, later becoming the first governor of the new British mandate of Tanganyika in 1920. He was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the League of Nations Mandated Territory of Tanganyika from 1920 to 1924. In 1924 he married Olga Margaret Campbell of Argyll, and had three sons with her: Sir Hugh Campbell Byatt (1927–2011), Ronald (Robin) Archer Campbell Byatt (1930–2019), and David Byatt (born 1932). He died on the 8th of April, 1933, in London, aged 58.
George Cachia served for 29 years in the Malta Police Force, but only six-and-a-half months as Commissioner of Police. He was appointed Commissioner of Police in November 1954.
Rene Paul Chambellan, September 15, 1893 – November 29, 1955, was an American sculptor who specialized in architectural sculpture. He was also one of the foremost practitioners of what was then called the "French Modern Style" and has subsequently been labeled Zig-Zag Moderne, or Art Deco. He also frequently designed in the Greco Deco style.
Major Sir John Clauson was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He was Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Secretary to Government of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies from 1911 to 1914, and High Commissioner of Cyprus from 1915 until his death.
Educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Clifton College, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Clauson was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1885. He graduated BA (Hons) from the University of London in 1887. In 1889, he designed a pontoon which was still in use in the Army at the time of his death. He passed the Staff College, Camberley in 1893, ranking first. He was on the Army Headquarters Staff from 1895 to 1900. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1897.
He was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1912 and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1913 New Year Honours.
His eldest son was Sir Gerard Clauson, Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Colonial Office from 1940 to 1951.
It was a mercantile tribunal of the country. It was composed of a judge and two consuls who were supposed to be well versed in mercantile affairs. In the case of appeals the parties could ask that a body of merchants be convened in the manner laid down in the Codice de Rohan.
Monsignor Paul Cremona O.P., S.Th.D., was born in Valletta on the 25th January 1946 to Joseph and Josephine nee’ Cauchi. He completed his primary education at the Montessori school in Valletta, and then pursued the secondary level at the Lyceum in Hamrun. In September 1962, he joined the Dominican Order, and professed on the 29th September 1963. He studied philosophy and theology at the College of St Thomas Aquinas at the Dominican priory at Rabat, and was ordained priest on the 22 March 1969. After his priestly ordination, Mgr Cremona was sent to follow higher studies in Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome (Angelicum) where, in 1973, he graduated Doctor in Theology presenting the thesis The Concept of Peace in Pope John XXIII. Between the years 1974 and 1980, he was prior at the priory of Our Lady of the Grotto at Rabat. He was re-elected to the same office in 1997 and again served two terms up to 2003. In 1981, he was chosen Provincial of the Maltese Dominican Province,an office he held for two four-year terms. On termination of office, he was entrusted with the parish of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in Gwardamanga as its Parish Priest. Between the years 1993 and 1997, he was responsible for the formation of the Dominican novices and students at Rabat; an office he again held for a short period of one year between 2004 and 2005. In 2005, Mgr Cremona was chosen as Parish Priest of the parish of Jesus of Nazareth in Sliema. His nomination was made public on the 2nd December 2006 and he was ordained Bishop on the 26th January 2007.
During his priestly life, Archbishop Cremona also served the Archdiocese as the Archbishop’s Delegate for Consecrated Life, Assistant Spiritual Director at the Seminary at Tal-Virtu’, and as a member of the Presbyterial Council. He was also President of the Council of Maltese Religious Major Superiors (KSMR). He is the author of a good number of books dealing with theology and spirituality, including his thesis, “The Concept of Peace in Pope John XXIII’’, “The Church, Icon of the Holy Trinity’’, and writings on the Creed and the Commandments as well as four books he wrote jointly with Fr George Frendo, OP, now Auxilliary Bishop in Albania.
Vivian Charles Byers De Gray was born in Portsmouth on January 30, 1912. His father Charles was a gunner in the Royal Artillery and his mother, Elizabeth Richardson, was born in Żebbuġ, Malta. The De Grays moved to Malta in 1917 and Vivian was first sent to Flores College. He later attended the British Garrison School and the Lyceum.
He started his working career as a civilian shorthand clerk with the Royal Army Ordinance Corps (ROAC) and later transferred to the Services Intelligence Office in Bighi. He joined the Police Force as a sub-inspector in 1934 after an open competitive examination, and in 1946 he was promoted to the rank of superintendent. In this rank he served as adjutant to three consecutive police commissioners.
De Gray, Vivian was first appointed Acting Commissioner in 1955 after his predecessor, George Cachia, resigned. Then on June 1, 1956, De Gray became Commissioner of Police, an appointment Mintoff described as a calculated risk by the Cabinet as he was aware that De Gray was a man of character. De Gray was more British than the British themselves.
When Mintoff became Prime Minister in June 1971, De Gray was given two options – face an inquiry or resign. He opted for the second and retired on pension. He had served as Police Commissioner for 15 years.
On May 18, 1972, De Gray was arrested and a search was conducted in his residence in Gwardamanġa. However, when the Prime Minister heard of De Gray’s arrest he ordered his immediate release. These orders were conveyed to Commissioner Alfred Bencini by Inspector Paul Mamo, who at that time was an attaché at the Office of the Prime Minister.
Vivian de Gray died on January 7, 1993, at the age of 83.
Sir Maurice Henry Dorman GCMG GCVO DL (7 August 1912 – 26 October 1993) was the representative of the Crown in the then-Commonwealth Realms of Tanganyika, Trinidad and Tobago, Sierra Leone, and Malta.
Dorman was born in 1912 and was the eldest son of John Ehrenfried Dorman and Madeleine Louise Bostock. Both his parents came from big industrial families in the town of Stafford. His mother was a magistrate and one of the first female dentists.
Dorman was educated at Sedbergh School and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He served in Sierra Leone from 1956 until 1962, for which he was knighted in 1957. From 27 April 1961 (Sierra Leone's independence day) to 27 April 1962, Dorman was the Governor-General of Sierra Leone. From 1962 until 1964, he was the Colonial Governor of Malta and then became Governor-General of Malta from September 1964 until July 1971, when he was replaced by Sir Anthony Mamo. In 1971–1972, he was a deputy chairman of the Pearce Commission.
He was a Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire and a Knight Grand Cross of the Maltese Order of Merit. In his retirement, he was also active within the Order of St John, being appointed in 1972 as Almoner and Chief Commander of the St John Ambulance. He continued his work in public health as a member of the Swindon Hospital Management Committee and other positions. He served as a member of the board of governors of Monkton Combe School from 1969 to 1992.
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch and the second-longest of any sovereign state.
Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark. Their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth, then 25 years old, became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities as well as its subsequent withdrawal. The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. As queen, Elizabeth was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US presidents.
Significant events included her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees. Although there was occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family—particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana—support for the monarchy and her personal popularity in the United Kingdom remained consistently high. Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.
Richard Ellis (27 January 1842 – 23 December 1924) was a British-Maltese photographer who was one of the pioneers of photography in Malta during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in St. Luke's, East London, he travelled throughout Europe as a circus performer before settling down in Malta at the age of nineteen. Within a few years he had opened a studio in Valletta, and became a renowned photographer. His archive of tens of thousands of photographs still exists, and his work is significant for both its historic value and technical quality.
Joseph Ellul was a Maltese photographer, born in Cospicua in 1907. He worked as a clerk, and started photography in/ around 1929. Most of his pictures are pre-Second world war and include photographs of events, landscapes, buildings and street photography of Malta and Gozo. The majority of his pictures are portraits, as he had a photographic studio at home where people would make use of his professional photographic services. He continued his photographic activity until the early 1970s.
Established in 1977, Enemalta is the leading energy services provider in the Maltese Islands, entrusted with the distribution of electricity, and the development of the national electricity distribution network.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who was Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was India's first and, to date, only female prime minister, and a central figure in Indian politics as the leader of the Indian National Congress (INC). She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded her in office as the country's sixth prime minister. Gandhi's cumulative tenure of 15 years and 350 days makes her the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father. Henry Kissinger described her as an "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her tough personality.
Herbert Grech served as Commissioner of Police from 1951 till November 1954.
Karmenu Gruppetta was a Maltese actor and play-write, born in Sliema in 1922. At 16 years of age he joined the Royal Malta Artillery Association (RMAA) as a soldier in the Royal Engineers (Malta Section). During his acting career he took part in theatre (shows such as Francis Ebejer's 'Hadd fuq il- Bejt'), plays, TV programmes, and also took part in films filmed in Malta such as 'Pulp' (1972). He lead several acting companies and won awards and diplomas for his works. He died in 1997.
Hart worked as Chief Architect in the Edinburgh City Architecture Department in Scotland. When he came to Malta he also visited Gozo and Comino, and several sites within the Islands between the 1950s and 1980s.