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Emanuele Sciortino, born in 1882 and died in 1957, was raised at St. Dominic Street, Valletta. He lived there together with his father, Alfonso, his mother, Grazia nee Bezzina, and his siblings. As a young man, he started working at Mr Richard Ellis’ photo studio in Valletta as an assitant where he learned the craft of photo development. It is believed that one afternoon Mr. Ellis had left the shop to rest. Mr. Sciortino then proceeded to develop his first ever photographs. The photographs in question turned out so great that Mr Ellis praised his work. From then on, Mr Sciortino’s interest in photography grew.
In 1905 he married Maria Cutajar from Hamrun, where they settled in 125, St. Joseph High Road, Hamrun opposite St. Paul’s Square. There, Sciortino set up his first photo studio, thus becoming the first photographer in Hamrun. After some years he engaged Mr Cassar and Mr Blackman as his assistants who eventually, set up their own shops in St Joseph High Road, Hamrun as well.
After a while Emanuele and Maria moved to 195, St. Joseph High Road, Hamrun, where they lived with their fifteen children (of whom only nine survived) for the rest of their lives. Sciortino then set up a day studio at this address. It is interesting to note that Sciortino never used artificial light for his work. The studio’s roof was made entirely out of glass, allowing him to capture photos in ample natural light.
Being one of the few photographers working in Malta at the time, Emanuele Sciortino was quite busy. It is interesting to note that in World War II, Sciortino’s workload, like that of other photographers, increased substantially. Troops and sailors awaiting transportation to other countries would go to Sciortino to have their photos taken so that they could send these to their families, relatives and loved ones.
Sciortino also specialised in the memoriam cards. The portrait of the deceased was printed on the side of the memoriam card before being sent to the institute of St. Joseph in Santa Venera where the text was printed. The memoriam cards were then folded and ready to be distributed. Sciortino was also commissioned by several parishes to take photographs of the statues of patron saints, religious processions, and feasts in general. Sometimes, he was asked to take miniature photographs of statues of saints. These were then sold at a very low price so that people could attach them to their garments with a head pin during the evening procession. Among Sciortino’s famous photographs are photographs of the Maltese saint, St George Preca. At times he was also hired by the Political Parties of the time to take photographs of political meetings or events and at times, even of the politicians themselves. He used to also set up his camera at the Upper Barrakka Gardens where people would approach him to have their picture taken. It was common for photographers to set up their cameras there.
It is to be noted also that the famous sculptor Antonio Sciortino was the cousin of Emanuele Sciortino.
Emanuele Sciortino continued to work until his death on the 27th of December 1957. His children kept working in his studio on a part-time basis (since they all had other full-time jobs) until they closed the day studio altogether in the early 1970s.

Vincent "Ċensu" Tabone, 30 March 1913 – 14 March 2012, was the fourth president of Malta who also served as Minister and Nationalist MP.

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.