Born in Floriana in 1947, Friggieri was educated at the Archbishop’s Seminary and the University of Malta. He studied Philosophy and Literature and holds the first M.A. (1975) and Ph.D. (1978) in Maltese Literature. He is a bill member of the Association des Critiques Littéraires of Paris and Founder Member of Academia Internationala Mihai Eminescu of Craiova. Many of his works have been translated into various languages, including English, Italian, French and Rumanian. He has addressed about seventy international congresses in various countries and his poetry has been included in some of the major poetry recitals held throughout Europe. Friggieri is author of numerous books of poetry, criticism, novels and short stories, thirty of which have been published in various countries. He is also author of numerous scholarly articles published in international academic journals, mainly in Europe and America, He is the winner of various international prizes, including the Premio Mediterraneo Internazionale (Palermo, 1988) and the Malta Government Literary Award in 1988, 1996 and 1997.
He is best known for having reconstructed the history of Maltese Literature, a task of over thirty years. He thus formulated a critical terminology in Maltese, as shown in his Dizzjunarju ta’ Termini Letterarji, first published in 1986 and then enlarged in 1996 and 2000. He is the author of the lyrics of the oratorios Pawlu ta’ Malta and Dun Girg! (set to music by Charles Camilleri) and the cantatas Rewwixta and Il-Belt Rebbieha (music by Joseph Vella). He has written numerous articles in the local and foreign press, and translated many works from Latin, English and Italian. His complete collection of poems has been published as Il-Poeziji Migbura (2002). He is Professor and Head of Department of Maltese at the University of Malta. The list of his works includes: La Cultura Italiana a Malta-Dun Karm (Florence); Storia della Letteratura Maltese (Milazzo); Laz (Belgrade); Baruhove Zagate (Ljubljana); A Turn of the Wheel (Paisley); Minciuna (Timisoara); La Menzogna (Genova); Stone per una sera (Treviso); Le Rituel du Crepuscule (Paris); Nous sommes un desir (Luxembourg); A Distraught Pilgrim (Missouri); Povesti pentru o seara (Bucharest); La voce dell’onda (Alghero) and novels like Fil-Parlament ma jikbrux Fjuri (In Parliament no flowers grow); Gizimin li qatt ma jiftah (Jasmins that never open) and It-Tfal jigu bil-Vapuri (Children come by ship). He writes in Maltese, English and Italian.

In 1999 the President of Malta honoured Friggieri as Member of the National Order of Merit.
He is married to Eileen Cassar and they have a daughter Sara.