Anton Buttigieg
Anton Buttigieg [IPA: antÉ"n butigi:g] (
1912 -
1983) was a
Maltese political figure and
poet. He served as
president of Malta from
1976 until
1981.
Anton Buttigieg was born in
Qala, Gozo, on the
February 19,
1912, the third child of Salvatore and Concetta (nee' Falzon). He was educated at the Government Primary School,
Qala (
1916 -
1922), the Gozo Seminary (
1923 -
1927),
St. Aloysius College Malta (
1928 -
1930) and the
University of Malta, where he graduated
Bachelor of Arts in
1934 and
Doctor of Laws in
1940.
In
1944 he married the late
Carmen Bezzina and had three children - John (now Dr. J. Buttigieg B.A., LL.D., M.P) - Rose (now wife of Dr. J. Brincat, B.A. (Lond.), B.Sc. (Econ.) (Lond.), LL.D., M.P.) and Emanuel (now Dr. E. Buttigieg LL.D., a practising lawyer).
In
1953 he married the late
Connie Scicluna. The death of his two wives seem to have been the major tragedies of his life and they have been reflected in his poetry. In
1975 he married Margery Patterson.
During the
World War II (
1942 -
1944) he served in the Police Force as Inspector and thereafter he practised Law. In
1955 he also served as an acting Magistrate. He was the Law reporter and leader writer of the "
Times of Malta" from
1946 to
1948 and the Editor of "
The Voice of Malta" from
1959 to
1970.
He embarked on a political career and was first elected to the
House of Representatives in the Labour Party interest in
1955. He was re-elected in all subsequent elections and held his seat in Parliament up to the time of his resignation in October
1976. From
1959 to
1961 he was President of the
Malta Labour Party and from
1962 to
1976 its Deputy Leader. When the present administration took office in
1971, he served his country as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
He was a delegate to the
Malta Constitutional Conferences held in London in
1958 and in
1964. He was also a representative to the Consultative Assembly in the
Council of Europe (
1967 -
1971), where he was elected Vice-President (
1967 -
1968).
In October
1976 he resigned from the
House of Representatives and on
December 27,
1976 he was elected as the second
President of the Republic of Malta.
Dr. Anton Buttigieg also distinguished himself in the field of literature. During his undergraduate days he was one of the founder members of the University Students "Society for the Maltese Language" (26-1-1931). He was a Member of the "
Academy of the Maltese Language" (20-3-1938).
His leisure interests were horse racing and gardening.
Dr. Anton Buttigieg was also President of the St. Gaetano Band Club of Hamrun.
*In
1971 he won First Prize for Poetry -
"Malta Government".
*In
1972 he won the
"Guze' Muscat Azzopardi" prize for poetry.
*In
1975 the
"Circolo Culturale Rhegium Julii" of Reggio Calabria awarded him with a silver plaque for his poetry.
*In
1977 he won the
"International Prize of Mediterranean Culture for Poetry" awarded by the "Centro di Cultura Mediterranea" of Palermo.
*In
1979 he was awarded
First Prize and a Special Diploma for Poetry in the First Category by the
Centro Culturale Artistico Letterario - Citta' di Brindisi.
*In
1979 he won "First Prize for the first volume of his auto-biography
"Toni tal-Bahri" (Toni the Seaman's Son) in the
"Malta Literary Award".
Lyrical poetry
*
"Mill-Gallarija ta' Zghoziti" - From the Balcony of my Youth - 1949
*
"Fanali bil-Lejl". - Lamps in the Night - 1949
*
"Fl-Arena" - In the Arena - 1970
*
"Ballati Maltin". - Maltese Ballads - 1973
*
"Il Mare di Malta". - The Sea of Malta-A selection of poems translated into Italian - 1974
*
"Il-Ghanja tas-Sittin" - The Song of the Sixty Year Old - 1975
*
"The Lamplighter". A selection of poems translated into English - 1977. They are also being translated into the Slovenian Language, which is one of the Yugoslav Languages and into German.
*
"Qabs el Mosbah". A selection of poems translated into Arabic - 1978
*
"Poeziji Migbura - L-ewwel Volum" - The first two books.
*
"From the Balcony of my Youth" and
"Lamps in the Night" have been published in one volume under the title "Collected Poems" - 1978.
Humorous poetry
*
"Ejjew nidhku ftit" - Let us laugh a little - 1963
*
"Ejjew nidhku ftit iehor" - Let us laugh a little more - 1966
Haikus and tankas
*
"Il-Muza bil-Kimono" - The Muse in Kimono. This book was translated both into Japanese and into English - 1968.
His books in preparation
*A collection of speeches and short stories.
*
"Zibeg u Bocci" - (Beads and Marbles). A collection of Haikus and Tankas.
*The first volume
"Toni tal-Bahri" - Toni the Seaman's Son was published in 1978.
