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Authority record
Atlas Insurance PCC Limited
MT AF-CB000016 · Corporate body · 1981-

The Atlas Group has its roots very firmly set in the Maltese shipping industry of the 1920s. Through the political and commercial climate of the period, agencies for various British insurance companies were established, dealing with mainly marine cargo business and following that, accident and fire business. Following the Second World War, motor business began to establish itself in Malta and local agencies began to flourish.

When, during the late 1990s, Malta followed the worldwide pattern of buyouts and mergers, four local agencies merged with a long term view to eventually forming a local company. The name Atlas was revived as a way of acknowledging the significance of the group’s history during a period of focus on future growth and opportunities. Atlas became a local insurance company, as opposed to an agency for an overseas insurer, just after Malta’s accession to the EU, on 1 May 2004.

In 2006 Atlas Insurance restructured to become a protected cell company, a development which takes advantage of new regulations under the Maltese Companies Act. This restructuring attracts foreign investments and facilitate Atlas’ emergence into international markets by enabling captive insurance companies to set up in Malta.

In 2023 the company successfully obtained authorization for its UK branch.

Barbara, Agatha, 1923-2002
MT AF-P000431 · Person · 1923-03-11 - 2002-02-04

Agatha Barbara, (1923 – 2002) was a Maltese politician, having served as a Labour Member of Parliament and Minister. She was the first woman to serve as president of Malta, and remains the longest-serving woman Member of Parliament in Maltese political history.

MT AF-P000464 · Person · 1831/03/21-1902/05/14

Fra Diego Bonnanno was born in Valletta in 1831 into a poor family and baptised by the name of Gakkinu Bonnano at St. Dominic's Parish Church (Porto Salvo) in Valletta. In 1852 Bonnano became a Franciscan Tertiary in the Church of the Franciscan Minors 'Ta' Giezu' in Valletta and later in 1858 he took up the vocation as a Franciscan Friar at the same Church and adopted the name Fra Diego. Soon after he was sent out by his superiors to collect and raise funds to provide relief for those in need, especially poor and homeless girls. He provided shelter for girls in the lodgings he rented out in Bormla, Paola, Balzan, Hamrun and Birkirkara, but in 1899 with the building of an insitute with the same function was started in Hamrun with the financial support of Marquis Joseph Scicluna. This insitute was completed in 1905, after Fra Diego had already died in 1902, and today it is known as the Fra Diegu Insitute. During and after his lifetime Fra Diegu was well respected, loved and reveered almost as a saintly figure. In 1932 a monument dedicated to him was erected in Hamrun, and the same square was later in 1952 renamed after him in his memory.

MT AF-P000015 · Person · 05/07/1911-29/10/1980

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.

Bourne, Cardinal, 1861-1935
MT AF-P000533 · Person · 1861/03/23-1935/01/01

Francis Alphonsus Bourne (1861–1935) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911.

Brincat, Leo, 1949-
MT AF-P000433 · Person · 1949-09-26 -

Leo Brincat (b. 1949) is a Maltese politician, since 2016 member of the European Court of Auditors.

Brincat was first elected to Maltese parliament in 1982 as a member of the Malta Labour Party and was minister for finance and commerce between 1997 and 1998 and minister for sustainable development, the environment and climate change between 2013 and 2016, when he was nominated to the European Court of Auditors.

MT AF-P000426 · Person · 1910-03-19 - 1982-02-20

Emmanuel Busuttil (1910-1982), Maltese photographer opened Emmanuel Studio in 1935, following in the footsteps of his father Carlo, also a photographer. He mostly took photos of historic buildings, naval officers, cabaret dancers and family photos. Due to the vicinity of the studio to the Orpheum Theater, Emmanuel Studio was often the photographer who photographed dancers, opera singers, violinists, etc.

MT AF-P000024 · Person · 22/03/1875-08/04/1933

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.

Calleia, Joseph, 1897-1975
MT AF-P000335 · Person · August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975

Joseph Calleia (August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer working on both the stage and on the big screens. He also performed work for radio and television.

Caruana, Gabriel, 1929-2018
MT AF-P000441 · Person · 1929-04-07 - 2018-07-16

Gabriel Caruana (1929 – 2018) was a Maltese artist who worked primarily in ceramics. He studied at the Malta School of Art (1953–59), the Accademia Pietro Vannucci in Perugia (1965), the School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (1966) and the Istituto Statale per la Ceramica in Faenza (1967).

He exhibited internationally, including a group exhibit by Maltese artists at Hunter College in 1996, and at venues such as the head office lobby of the Bank of Valletta. In 1990, he set up an Arts, Culture and Crafts Centre at Ta' Ganu Windmill in Birkirkara, Malta, with his wife, Mary Rose Caruana and still operates today under the Gabriel Caruana Foundation.

Caruana, Maurus, 1867-1943
MT AF-P000535 · Person · 1867/11/16-1943/12/17

Aloysius was born in Floriana, the son of Enrico Caruana and Elizabeth née Bonavia. He studied at the Gozo Seminary, St Ignatius College, St Julians, and Fort Augustus Abbey school, Scotland, where he eventually became captain of the school. Caruana joined the St Benedict’s abbey, Fort Augustus, belonging to the English Benedictine congregation, and was enrolled on 20 September 1884, taking the name of Maurus. He made his profession on 11 November 1885 and was ordained priest in 1891 by Bishop Hugh Macdonald. He continued his ecclesiastical studies at the Benedictine college of San Anselmo in Rome, studying canon law. Back at Fort Augustus, Caruana taught philosophy, theology, and Latin literature, and served twice as parish priest and choir master, promoting Gregorian chant. A very well-known preacher in Scotland, he was very much requested for preaching in Italian. In 1912 he was appointed choirmaster. Under his direction the rendering of the Gregorian chant reached a very high standard at the abbey. Following the death of Bishop Pietro Pace, Caruana was appointed bishop of Malta in 1915. The solemn consecration on 10 February was conducted by Cardinal Raffael Merry del Val at the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. On that occasion he was appointed knight grand cross of the Sovereign Military Order of St John. Caruana arrived in Malta three days later and on 19 April, he solemnly entered Mdina and was invested in the cathedral. Caruana was intellectually very able and fluent in Maltese, English, Italian, and Gaelic. In spite of his diocesan commitments he always found time to give conferences on the rule of St Benedict to the cloistered Benedictine nuns of St Peter in Mdina. In 1917 Caruana unveiled and blessed the monument of Christ the King at Floriana which commemorates the XXIV International Eucharistic Congress held in Malta in April 1913. When, in 1928, the Holy See restored the residential archdiocese of Rhodes, the bishops of Malta could no longer be, as they had been since 1797, simultaneously titular archbishops of Rhodes, but Caruana was allowed to retain the personal title of archbishop. Caruana’s episcopate was characterised by the politico-religious crisis of the 1920s and 1930s; on the background of these events, the Catholic newspaper Leħen is-Sewwa started publication (1928). During his time, the first diocesan regional council was held in Malta in June 1935, presided over by Cardinal Alexis Lepicier. Caruana approved the setting up of the Congregation of St Paul (1921) and that of the Missionary Sisters of Jesus of Nazareth (1934). On his initiative was built the church of St Gregory in Sliema (1923). To mark the XV centenary of the Council of Ephesus, he crowned the old icon of the Madonna of Damascus (1931). Caruana was the first Maltese to be created knight commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918, shortly after the Order had been instituted by George V. He was also received by George VI during the latter’s 20-hour visit to Malta in June 1943. He died after a long illness and was buried in St Gregory’s parish church, Sliema. Caruana was not only the first Maltese Benedictine monk, but also the first Benedictine to become bishop of Malta since 1511.

MT AF-P000017 · Person · 13/11/1866-31/12/1918

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.

Cremona, Emvin, 1919-1987
MT AF-P000442 · Person · 1919-05-27 - 1987-01-29

Emanuel Vincent "Emvin" Cremona (1919 – 1987) was a Maltese artist and stamp designer. He was as one of Malta's leading artists of the 20th century, and a pioneer of modernism in Malta. Cremona is known for designing most Maltese stamps from 1957 to the 1980s, including the stamp issue commemorating Malta's independence from Great Britain in 1964.

Cremona, Paul 1946-
MT AF-P000038 · Person · 25 January 1946 -

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.

De Marco, Guido, 1931-2010
MT AF-P000436 · Person · 1931-07-22 - 2010-08-12

Born in Valletta, the son of Emmanuele De Marco and Giovanna née Raniolo, Guido was educated at St Aloysius College and the Royal University of Malta (RUM) where he graduated NP (1951), BA in philosophy, economics, and Italian (1952), and LLD (1955). In 1967 he was appointed lecturer and later professor of criminal law at the UM. He was defence counsel in several cases involving human rights.

Active in politics since his student days when he set up a PN committee at the RUM, De Marco was also the editor of Encounter and The Leader, organs of the Nationalist youth movement. He was elected president of the SRC in 1953 and in the same year he organised the first National Congress of Maltese Students.

In 1964 de Marco was appointed crown counsel at the crown advocate general’s office, a post he relinquished two years later to contest successfully the 1966 elections in the interests of the PN and he was returned to parliament in all general elections up to 1998.

DeMarco always contested the 1st district, which comprises Valletta, and the 7th, 8th or 10th districts. In 1966 (812 1st district and 2,449 8th district), in 1971 (1542 1st and 3,213 8th district), in 1976 (2,417 1st and 2,631 7th), in 1981 (3,215 1st and 3,561 7th), in 1987 (3,891 1st and 3,699 7th), in 1992 ( 2,125 1st), in 1996 (2,975 1st and 3,104 10th), and in 1998 (3,228 1st and 2,815 10th).

He was the PN’s parliament spokesman on justice, parliamentary affairs, and human rights since 1973. From 1972-1977, he was the PN’s secretary general and later deputy leader (1977-1998).

De Marco was appointed deputy prime minister and minister of the interior and justice in 1987, and minister of foreign affairs and justice in 1990 and presented Malta’s application for membership of the EU at Brussels in July 1990. Appointed deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs after the 1998 PN electoral victory, on 11 September 1998 he presented Malta’s request for the reactivation of its application for membership to the EU.

De Marco held the post of foreign minister until April 1999, when he was elected President of Malta on 4 April, and served as President till April 2004.

De Marco represented the Maltese parliament in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for almost 20 years.

Guido de Marco was a Maltese politician who serves as the sixth president of Malta from 1999 to 2004. He also served as deputy prime minister, minister of the interior and justice, and minister for foreign affairs. He was elected President of the 45th session of the United Nations General Assemebly in 1990 and Chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation in 2004.

MT AF-P000041 · Person · 7 August 1912 – 26 October 1993

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.

MT AF-P000465 · Person · 1841/11/09-1910/05/06

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.

The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward, nicknamed "Bertie", was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During his mother's reign, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863, and the couple had six children. As Prince of Wales, Edward travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes. Despite the approval of the public, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

Edward inherited the throne upon his mother's death in 1901. He played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker", but his relationship with his nephew, German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor.

The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism. Edward died in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was succeeded by his only surviving son, George V.

MT AF-P000042 · Person · 21-04-1926 - 08-09-2022

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.

Ellis, Richard, 1842-1924
MT AF-P000032 · Person · 27/01/1842 – 23/12/1924

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.