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Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici was born in Cospicua to Giuseppe and Maria née Cordina. He was a brilliant orator and a very popular politician known as ‘Il-Gross’. He was educated at the Lyceum and the UM where he graduated in law in 1922. Carmelo became president of the student body, the Comitato Permanente Universitario, which organized a well-attended demonstration in Valletta in May 1917, just a few days before the 7 June riots. The students were protesting against changes that the British government wanted to effect in the Course of Laws. He was also responsible for the organization of the students’ strike in May 1919.

In 1922 Mifsud Bonnici joined the PDN and was co-opted as member of the Legislative Assembly in 1923 on the judicial appointment of Dr (later Sir) Luigi Camilleri of the PDN. He was elected in the 1924, 1927, and 1932 elections, representing the 4th district. In September 1926 Mifsud Bonnici was appointed minister for the Treasury when Sir Ugo Mifsud became prime minister. After the PN victory in 1932, Mifsud Bonnici was appointed minister for the treasury and the police and served until November 1933, when the Constitution was suspended.

In 1926 Mifsud Bonnici was instrumental in the fusion between the UPM and the PDN in what later came to be known as the PN. Mifsud Bonnici later became its first general secretary.

Following a ruling by the speaker of the Legislative Assembly on the power of the House vis-a-vis the Archbishop, Mifsud Bonnici’s journalistic criticism brought him about his committal to Corradino Prison for breach of privilege of the Assembly. Between 1936 and 1939 he was a member of the executive council.

In 1938 Mifsud Bonnici became professor of history of legislation and in 1940 professor of criminal law in the RUM.

Mifsud Bonnici was also an eminent scholar, poet, and author. He was editor of Patria, In-Nazzjon, and La Voce del Popolo. He also founded and edited the Mid-Day Views, Mid-Day News, and Il-Poplu. He published several books. Extracts from contributions in learned journals of a judicial, literary, or historical nature by Mifsud Bonnici which are of special interest include Intorno alla testimonianza dell’Imputato (1938), Lord Byron in Malta (1933), Sir Walter Scott in Malta (1934), Leone Tolstoi (1934), Wolfgang Goethe (1937), Alessandro Manzoni (1937), Pinto de Fonseca (1937), Corporativismo Maltese Medievale (1938), and Del Comune Maltese (1938).

Mifsud Bonnici married Mary Ross in 1928 and they had two sons, Giuseppe, a chief justice and Ugo, the fifth president of the Republic of Malta.

Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was born in Bormla (Cospicua) on November 8, 1932. He was the youngest of Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and Maria Ross’s three children. His siblings were Josette, who died at 11 months, and the late and lamented Professor Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici.

Ugo studied at St Edwards College, the Lyceum of Gozo and the University of Malta. He graduated B.A. and L.P. in 1952, and LL.D. in 1955.

As a lawyer, he has practised in all the Law Courts of Malta. On 3 May 1959, he married Gemma (née Bianco); the couple has three childrenː Carmelo, Anton and Jeanne-Pia.

In 1996, he contested the General Elections in the interests of the Nationalist Party. He was re-elected in all subsequent General Elections that he contested. For fifteen years (1972–1987) he was the Nationalist Party's spokesman for Education. In 1977 he was also elected President of the Party's General and Administrative Councils.

As a Member of Parliament, he took an active interest in the updating of Malta's legislation. He was a member of numerous Select Committees including the Committee set up to draft the Constitutional changes that declared Malta a Republic. As a Minister, he worked on the drafting of important legislation such as the Education Act, the Environment Act, the National Archives Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Promotion Act. He made a strong effort to improve the standards at public schools.

He was inaugurated as President of Malta on 4 April 1994 and served his term in full (till 1990), ending five years later to the day.
Dr. Mifsud Bonnici is also a prolific writer. His articles have appeared in various newspapers; some were published in two books: Il-Linja t-Tajba - L-Aħjar Artikli ta' Dottor Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and Biex il-Futur Reġa' Beda. He also spent some years as editor of a literary magazine Malta Letterarja.

12 September 1889 - Born in Valletta, the son of Judge Gio Batta and Marianna nee Francia
1910 - Graduated from the University of Malta as LLD.
1921 - Contested the elections as a UPM candidate
1924 - Became the youngest prime minister in the British Empire after the resignation of Dr Francesco Buhagiar as Head Ministry
1926 - Became the co-leader of the PN after the UPM’s coalition with Enrico Mizzi’s PDN
1927 - Knighted and given the title of Sir. Re-elected in Parliament
1928 - Married to Maria Beatrice Francia
1928 - Presided over the aerial and radio law committee (Warsaw)
1928 - Represented Malta at a conference in Canada by the Empire Parliamentary Association
1934 - Chaired the Trade Marks Committee (Budapest)
1932 - Elected as vice-president of the International Law Association
1932 - PN landslide victory where he held the office of Prime Minister
1932 - Formed part of a government delegation to the secretary of state for the colonies, Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister with a request for Malta to be placed under the Dominion Office as an independent member of the Commonwealth.
1939 - Elected member of the Council of Government
1942 - As the Council was debating the British Government’s intention to deport several Maltese citizens, Sir Ugo suffered a heart attack and two days later he passed away.