Risultati 52

Francis Laing was born at Edinburgh on 1 May 1773, son of Alexander, an architect. Laing studied at the University of Edinburgh 1789-90 and 1792-93, and the University of Glasgow in 1794, taking a Physics class under John Anderson. He was Snell Exhibitioner in 1796, and went on to graduate BA from Oxford in 1799 and MA in 1801. He took Holy Orders, becoming Reverend Francis Laing. In 1803 Laing served as Private Secretary to the Governor of Malta, and was shortly afterwards appointed Secretary to the Government of the Island, a post which he held till 1814. Returning to the UK, Laing was Rector of Llanmaes, Glamorgan from 1814 to 1824, and Rector of Humshaugh, Northumberland, from 1820 to 1832. He died at the Mythe, Tewkesbury, on 24 November 1861.

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.

Perit André Zammit was born in 1930 in Gozo, where his father was a senior civil servant. André experienced the war years in Victoria, where he received his secondary education at the Seminary, transferring to St Aloysius College in Birkirkara in 1943. He sat for his matriculation examinations and entered the Royal University of Malta to follow the course of Architect and Civil Engineer. He was the youngest of his fellow students, graduating in 1952 and then winning a government scholarship to further his studies in London in road building. Further specialisation followed in Milan.
On his return to Malta, he joined the Public Works Department and was detailed to the roads section. He was responsible for the design and execution of the first fly-over project at Blata l-Bajda in the late 1950s and several other major road construction projects.
André lectured at the Royal University of Malta and in later years, he was chairman of the Planning Area Permits Board.
He authored a number of books starting with his memoires and then the history of his family architects and a biography of his maternal uncle, Chief Justice Sir Luigi Camilleri and Our Architects – A Private Archive Unveiled, based on the Collection
He died on 14 May 2020.

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 Alexander Wood was the son of the late Alexander Wood, (c.1750s–1807) esq an eminent member of the medical profession in Edinburgh. Sir Alexander Wood went to Ceylon on the civil establishment in 1801 and after filling the offices of member of the Council and sole Commissioner of Revenue, he returned to England in 1811. On Sir Thomas Maitland’s insistence, Wood, who had served under Maitland in Ceylon, was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government of Malta between 1815 and 1817. He was also Chief Secretary to the Government of the Ionian Islands, and up to the period of his demise was Resident Agent in England for the Ionian Islands. He was nominated a Knight Commander of St Michael and St George in 1820, and in the same year dubbed a Knight Bachelor. Sir Alexander Wood married the eldest daughter of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo Bart, Christian Forbes, in 1807 and died on the 18th of March in 1847 at Holles Street Cavendish square.

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.

On the 23rd of July 1849, Governor Richard More O’Ferrall appointed legal persons as Commissioners to revise the Electoral Lists and to conduct elections. On 23rd June, 1849, Governor O’Ferrall published the related Proclamation (No. I) entitled 'A Law to regulate and appoint the Election of Members to serve in the Council of Government of Malta' upon instructions issued in Westminster, London, by Queen Victoria through Letters Patent of 11th May, 1849. However, prior to 1927, the Commission members were all equal in rank and in fact, no Principal Commissioner was appointed amongst them.

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.

6th August 1916 – Born in Cospicua toLaurence and Concetta nee Farrugia
1939 - Awarded a Rhodes scholarship where he obtained his qualifications in science and engineering which included MA, BSc and BE&A, A&CE
1935 – Assistant Secretary of the Cospicua Labour Party
1935 – 1937; 1944 – Served as General Secretary of the Labour Party
1945 – Contested the general electrions for the Council of Government
1947 – 1949 – Appointed Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction
1947 – Led delegations to London regarding the Marshall Aid
1947 – Married Moira Bentinck
1949 – Mintoff became the leader of the Malta Labour Party
1950 – 1996 – Contested all general elections
1953 – 1955 – Editor of The Knight
1955 – Became Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance and led a delegation to discuss the question of integration
1958 – Resigned in protest against the Britishand led the Maltese Liberation Movement
1958 – Led a delegation to London to discuss the re-introduction of self-government
1962 – 1971 – Became Leader of Opposition, in light of the MLP’s dispute with the Church
1971 – Removed Sir Maurice Dorman from governor-general and appointed Sir Anthony Mamo instead
1971 – Given the Order of the Republic of Libya
1973 – Given the Grand Cordon De l’Ordre de la Republique of Tunisia
1974 – Chose Mamo as the first president of the Republic of Malta
1978 – Given the Order of the Gran Cordon of Oissam Alaouite from Morocco
1979 – Ended the British military hold on Malta
1980 – Negotiated a protocol neutrality agreement with Italy
1984 - Resigned from Prime Minister and leader of the MLP but retained his parliamentary seat
1990 – Made Companion of the National Order of Merit (KUOM)
1998 – Mintoff voted against the Labour Government on a motion on the Cottonera development
2003 – Campaigned against Malta’s accession to the European Union
2008 – Awarded the Al-Qathafi Prize by the International Committee for the Al-Qathafi Award for Human Rights