Who was who? Min kien min? - Historical personages linked to Malta

CENSU MIFSUD BONNICI (1871-1929) was a Qormi born poet and writer. He was the son of Pietro Paolo, who in his turn was the son of Dr Felice Mifsud Bonnici, a medical district officer for Qormi. Felice was the son of Dr Clemente. This made the Mifsud Bonnici a prominent family at Qormi in the eigtheenth and nineteenth century.

The Mifsud Bonnici family moved to Mellieha when Pietro Paolo was appointed the first headteacher for the local school. When Pietro Paolo died suddenly in 1880, the family returned to Qormi. Although Vincenzo was very intelligent and was encouraged to enter university, he preferred to find employment to sustain his mother and numerous siblings. He worked as a store-keeper, with the Works Department, and then moved to Hamrun where he lived his young years and marriage.

Censu Mifsud Bonnici was a keen supporter of the Maltese Language and writing was his only hobby. Among his published works there were poems (Poezija 'l Alla). On his death in 1929 he left many manuscript works including "Is-Sultan tad-Djamant" a poem of 2400 free verse. He was engaged on his long time project for the compilation of a Maltese Dictionary. In 2004 most of his manuscripts were donated by his grand-daughter, Antoinette Zarb, to the University of Malta.

Reference
Il Berka: 27th July 1937 an article taken from il-Malti of March 1930
SCHIAVONE Michael: Dictionary of Maltese Biographies, vol.2 p.1178

https://www.facebook.com/158190861423418/posts/958504021392094/

Richard England - The Great Chameleon He is now 81-years-old and, a glance at his curriculum vitae gives the impression that he has lived several lives. He has an undiminished work ethic and is capable of multi-tasking and equally at home designing a building as he is writing a poem. Professor England has distinguished himself in variou...

Save the dates!

It is our great pleasure to announce our first webinar series of talks for this year! This series, titled Conservation Think Tanks aims to bring together experienced and emerging professionals from the field of conservation, and other related disciplines to the forefront. It sets out to create an opportunity for discussion and networking.

We are delighted to have an exciting line-up of local and international speakers for our upcoming CPD series this term. Stay tuned for more information soon!

CYNTHIA TURNER (1933 – 2021) was one of Malta’s leading pianists. She was born in Valletta in 1932. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, and also started studying piano at a young age under the guidance of Giovanna Bascetta. This led her to eventually gain an LRSM, and also to her winning a scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied for a time, becoming an associate. She furthered her piano studies in Germany where she studied under Horbowski in Stuttgard and then in Italy with Carlo Zecchi and in Paris under Francis Poulenc. Poulenc composed his famous piano concerto in 1949, on commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It has three movements and a duration of 20 minutes ... but it also has a special connection to Cynthia Turner.

In 1952, Poulenc dedicated an annotated score of his piano concerto to Cynthia when she was still a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After making sure that Cynthia played it exactly as he would have wanted it to be played, he gifted her with the score and is known to have told her, “Play it everywhere, all over the world”. In 2003, Ms Turner launched a CD featuring the Poulenc concerto, which she recorded with the Russian Symphony Orchestra playing under the baton of Yuri Tkachenko.

In 1967, during HM Queen Elizabeth’s state visit to Malta, Cynthia Turner was entrusted with playing for the royal couple during a concert held at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta. Turner had just returned to Malta from her studies abroad when she received the invitation to perform for the queen, and this just two weeks before the concert itself. She played Poulenc’s Concerto for Piano which earned her great reviews from the local music critics. After the concert she had an audience with Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, who was very keen to learn more about Poulenc.

Over the years, Cythia Turner gave numerous piano recitals in Malta and also others in many cities abroad. She loved performing for her Maltese audiences and always played to a full house at the Manoel Theatre. She was also sought after as a teacher and adjudicator of senior piano students.

Miss Turner was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques, and in 2004 she was also made a member of the National Order of Merit (MOM).

Cynthia Turner died on the 1st February 2021 during the Covid pandemic. She was married to Anthony Caruana, and had two sons – Nicholas and Christopher.
http://arkivji.org.mt/atom2/index.php/turner-caruana-cynthia

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Memories-of-the-time-they-performed-for-the-Queen.592674

https://whoswho.mt/en/this-week-the-world-lost-an-exemplary-woman-grandson-pays-tribute-to-revered-pianist-cynthia-turner

https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/08533/artifact_aspx_id_666

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/cynthia-turner-in-concert-with-national-orchestra.149062

Marjanu Gerada was the sculptor who carved the titular statue of Madonna tal-Grazzja of Zabbar. He died 197 years ago (1828) at the age of 57 in Bormla.

SALVATORE LUIGI PISANI CMG, MD (1828 - 1902) was a Maltese doctor, renowned professor of anatomy, surgery, midwifery and gynaecology.

The only son of Luigi Pisani and Concetta Inglott, Salvatore Luigi Pisani was born in a family of physicians. His homonymous grandfather had died in the plague of 1813. His father was superintendent of the Gozo Hospital, and later of the Central Hospital in Floriana from 1850 to 1865, when he died of typhoid fever, probably contracted on the job. Pisani was particularly impressed by the cholera epidemics that had struck Malta in 1837 and 1850, and dedicated his years of study to the causes of the disease.

Pisani studied at the Lyceum and graduated as M.D. from the University of Malta (1850) and the University of Edinburgh (1853). The same year he otained a Licentiate and a diploma in midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons. The first Maltese to graduate at that Edinburgh university, he was awarded a gold medal and commended for his thesis ‘On the Epidemics of Cholera in Malta and Gozo.’ To complete his studies, he also visited several medical centres in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Italy. In May 1854, he became a member of the German Medical Society in Paris.

During the Crimean war Pisani, then in charge of the Pembroke regiment of the Military Medical Department, volunteered as surgeon with the British Army and was posted to Scutari and then Balaclava, where he worked with Florence Nightingale. Impressed by his work on the battlefield, she felt obliged to write to the Governor of Malta to praise his skills and dedication.

Returning to Malta on sick leave in early 1855, Pisani was appointed medical officer in charge of the St Julian’s camp.He left the British Army in July 1856, with the most solid reputation.[1] For the following thirty years, Pisani served as specialist accoucher and surgeon at Malta's Government Hospital, in particular pioneering the practice of ophthalmology, a field in which he worked closely with his graduate Lorenzo Manché.

Then 30 years old, in 1858 Pisani was appointed to the chairs of anatomy and histology (1858-1875], midwifery and gynaecology (1858-1869), and surgery (1869-1885) at the University of Malta. Pisani devised the curriculum of the new School of Practical Midwifery, established in 1860, lecturing in English and Italian and promoting the use of the Maltese language to educate paramedics.

In 1874, Pisani published a paper in Paris entitled ‘Mortality from Cholera Morbus at Malta during the epidemics of 1837 and 1850’.

In 1878 Pisani supported the then resident commissioner of National Education in Ireland, Patrick Joseph Keenan, which the British Government had sent to Malta to enquire into the state of the local education system. Keenan and Pisani pleaded for the government not to close down the University of Malta, as had been proposed, and to support the Medical School.

In 1885, Pisani was appointed to the new post of Chief Government Medical Officer, the highest-ranked medical practitioner on the island, and the following year received a bronze medal at the Malta Exhibition for two pamphlets in Maltese, ‘Fuq il-mard tat-tfal’ and ‘Twissijiet fuq il-mard tal-kolera’. In 1887 he drafted a comprehensive report on that year's cholera outbreak, including a brief history of previous cholera epidemics in Malta and Gozo, post-mortem examination results and a description of the isolation of the cholera bacillus by [[Joseph Caruana Scicluna]] and David Bruce. Pisani noted three causal factors of the epidemics: the cholera germ, a contaminated environment, and climatic conditions conducive to the growth of the microbe. He recommended the government to improve local public health standards, in particular as concerns clean water supply, well-sanitised buildings for the working class, and extending the sewage system to rural areas.

In 1895 Pisani was also appointed as head of the new Public Health Department. The same year, in appreciation to his lifelong service, Pisani was appointed by Queen Victoria as Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), a distinction never bestowed on any other Maltese doctor. He retired in 1902, with the appreciation of then Governor Lord Grenfell.

Pisani used to live at 33 Strada Alessandro, Valletta, which he then bequeathed to his cousin Giovanna Manche who had just married Prof. Col. Lorenzo Manche in 1870. Pisani constructed Villa Sans Souci in Marsaxlokk in the 1870s. He lived at "his commodious and comfortable Villa Sans Souci situated in a lovely spot between Casal Zeitun and Marsascirocco where he quietly passed away on October 27, 1908, after a somewhat prolonged illness. The funeral cortege offered an unmistakable proof of the high esteem in which Prof. Pisani was held, comprising as it did, the elite of society, a good many following the hearse in carriages from Sans Souci to the Addolorata Cemetery, where many more joined the procession".

Works

Pisani's publications included "Ktieb il Qabla" [Malta, 1883]; "Twissijiet fuq il mard tal-korla" [Malta, 1885]; "Fuq il mard tat-tfal u kif nilghulu" [Malta, 1885]; ad "Report on the Cholera Epidemic in the year 1887" [Malta, 1888]. In 1896 he initiated a series of annual public health reports.

Pisani was also a renowned numismatic and art collector, publishing "Medagliere di Malta e Gozo dall'epoca Fenicia all'attuale Regnante S.M. La Regina Vittoria" [Malta, 1896] and bequeathed his coin and medal collection (worth tens of thousands of pounds) to the Monetarium of the National Museum in 1899.

Bibliography:

C. Savona-Ventura: Pisani, Salvatore Luigi. Maltese biographies of the twentieth century [eds. M.J. Schiavone; L.J. Scerri].

PIN, Malta, 1997, p. 455; Portraits at the Medical School. Maltese Medical Journal, 1998, VIII[1]:p. 48. Public Opinion, 28 May 1895

"A Maltese medicine man who was 19th century icon" by Louis Borg Manche in the Sunday Times of Malta of 26 October 2008.

References:

Louis Borg Manché, "A Maltese medicine man who was 19th century icon", Sunday Times of Malta, 26 October 2008.
www.findagrave.com Salvatore Luigi Pisani, by Eman Bonnici

Vittoriosa Historica

"Nightingale felt obliged to write a glowing reference to Sir William Reid, Governor of Malta, on May 26, 1856, from the Balaclava General Hospital: “I had the opportunity to witness his skill whenserving under him and I have always heard Dr Pisani’s immediate medical superiors at Scutari speak most highly of his services both as to skill and attention in treating the cases entrusted to his charge when he accompanied Dr French to Scutari in October 1854.”; Louis Borg Manché, "A Maltese medicine man who was 19th century icon", Sunday Times of Malta, 26 October 2008.

Biography compiled by Davide Denti:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Luigi_Pisani

Photo by Leandro Preziosi

The 17th of January marks the anniversary of the ex*****on of Dun Mikiel Xerri at the hands of the French.

DUN MIKIEL XERRI was born in Ħaż-Żebbuġ on the 29th of December 1737, to Bartolomeo Xerri and his wife Anna. The day after he was born he was baptised and given the name Mikael Archangelus Joseph. He seems to have lived a privileged and comfortable life under the Knights of St. John. He was a very intelligent young man, and his parents did their very best to give him a good education. He eventually left Malta's shores to continue his studies at various European universities. He studied Philosophy and Mathematics and eventually came home to Malta. After being ordained a priest, he gave his house in Żebbuġ up toward the opening of a school for the poorest of the children of his hometown.

When he became a professor at the University of Malta, he moved to Valletta and lived in what we now know as West Street, close to the Auberge d'Aragon.

In 1798 the unthinkable happened and the French, headed by General Napoleon Bonaparte, ousted the Knights of St. John from Malta. At first the Maltese - or some of them - saw this as a chance for change and also an opportunity to get themselves rid of the knights whose rule they found to be oppressive and not particularly advantageous to them. However, as time passed there were things which started to irritate the Maltese about the French and they lost no time in trying to oust the French themselves. Dun Mikiel was part of a plan to overthrow the French who had, by now, retreated into the walled cities around Grand Harbour due to hostilities. The blockade was causing untold suffering among the people of Malta both in the walled cities and those living outside the cities, and people were on the verge of starvation.

Dun Mikiel was adamant that the plan that the plotters had come up with would go ahead without delay, as he was afraid that he would be banished from Valletta by the French. Those inside the Valletta were to attack the French and open the gates for the men waiting outside the walls of the city. The men outside the walls were under the command of Vincenzo Borg Brared, Emanuele Vitale and also the Maltese priest Francesco Saverio Caruana. Dun Mikiel wrote about the plot, " I am doing this for my country for l fear that for me this will be the last deed as I am attempting more than anybody else who because of fear does not dare to obey my orders. I do not regret it ; if all goes well l die a happy man”.

For various reasons, including a series of mistakes on the side of the plotters, the plans of Dun Mikiel and his compatriots became known to the French and Dun Mikiel was among around 49 persons who were arrested in connection with the failed plot.

On the morning of 17th of January, Vincenzo Labini the Bishop of Malta met with Xerri and his companions and prayers were said. Xerri and his companions were taken to Palace Square, where French troops awaited them. Xerri gave his silver pocket watch to one of the officials on duty and asked to be shot through the heart. His cry, before being shot, was “Lord have mercy on us! Viva Malta!"

He was 61 when he died.

Dun Mikiel Xerri and some of his men were buried in the little cemetery at the side of the Floriana parish church of St Publius. Among those buried at this site were Guliermu Lorenzi, Mattew Pulis, Michele Vella and Dun Miju Zarb. A marble slab at the side of the church still commemorates him and his companions executed on this day in Valletta.
https://www.executedtoday.com/2010/01/17/1799-dun-mikiel-xerri-maltese-patriot/

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/dun-mikiel-xerri-and-patriotism.699698

https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/47043

http://archive.maltatoday.com.mt/2010/01/13/harry.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dun_Mikiel_Xerri

TESSIE CAMILLERI (1901 - 1930) was the first woman graduate of the University of Malta. She started on her course with the October 1919 intake after matriculating in June of that year, and read Philosophy, Latin Literature and English Literature for three years. In 1919 another female student joined the University of Malta. She was Blanche Huber, who was the first female student to embark on a course in medicine with the University and who eventually graduated two years after Tessie Camilleri as the former's was the longer course.

Tessie was apparently a very good student and did very well in her studies. She graduated B. Litt. in 1922.

In his graduation speech, Professor Temi Zammit made reference to the value of female participation at University and congratulated Miss Camilleri on her success. The Daily Malta Chronicle, reporting on the occasion, wrote that "Miss Camilleri had greatly distinguished herself in the course of literature, revealing intellectual endowments and attainments of no mean order", and that they did "heartily congratulate her on her well-deserved success which has gained for her the distinction of being the first lady graduate of the University of Malta."

Soon after graduating, Tessie Camilleri married Edgar Staines who worked in the administration at University. They had four children. Tragically, however, Tessie's life was cut very short as she died in 1930 aged only 29.

https://studylib.net/doc/13406035/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-female-graduate--women-in-malta

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/university-immortalises-first-female-graduate.185251

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessie_Camilleri

CHARLES FREDERICK DE BROCKTORFF (1775/ 85 - 1850) was a German - Danish infantry officer who fought on the Hanover side during the Napoleonic Wars. The exact year of his birth is not known. He moved to England in 1809, and then further South to Malta in around 1810. Once in Malta he opened his own art studio in Valletta.

De Brocktorff used public buildings as the main source of his paintings, in addition to anything which would be pleasing to his main clients - visitors to the islands and servicemen who would take his paintings away with them as a souvenir. He also executed quite a few watercolours showing the Maltese way of life, with typical Maltese characters wearing traditional Maltese clothing of the time and going about their daily lives.

Apart from the beautiful sites and public buildings, de Brocktorff is also well known for having painted the megalithic temple of Ġgantija, as well as the Xagħra Stone Circle in around 1830, before the latter was destroyed by farmers working the surrounding land. The Circle was named the "Brocktorff Circle" by Professor David Trump in the 1970s - a fitting tribute to the artist who documented the remains of the - then demolished - circle so meticulously more than a century previously.

One high profile Briton staying in Malta, circa 1830, had compiled an outstanding albums of the artist's work which is, today, in the Biblioteca. This was none other than Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby when he was Governor of Malta.

Another album was purchased by the National Library in the 1920s. This was an album which was compiled in around 1849 by Henry Benjamin Hanbury Beaufoy, after buying the artwork from an auction at Stowe House, Buckinghamshire.

Frederick's sons. Luigi and Giovanni de Brockdorff, both joined the family business in Valletta and published, with great success, a collection of several lithographic prints showing Malta during the first half of the 19th century.

Frederick de Brocktorff's Maltese works (there are of course others depicting countries which he travelled to like Egypt, Albania and even Grecce), remains one of the most important resource of visual documentation which we have of a Malta in the years preceding photography.

De Brockdorff died in 1850, leaving us a huge heritage and also a keen insight into Malta as it was in the past.

Below - Portrait of a Naval Officer by Charles de Brocktorff
https://www.watercolourworld.org/artist/charles-frederick-de-brocktorff

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Frederick_de_Brocktorff

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/the-german-infantry-officer-who-painted-malta.186891