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Important People

FRA DIEGU BONANNO Institute Founder

Gioacchino Bonanno was born in 1831 in Valletta and had a fairly good education for his day. He had just finished a tailor’s apprenticeship but felt the calling for a religious life. In 1858 at twenty-five he entered the Tertiary Order of St.Francis, and four years later he joined the Order of Friars Minor ‘ta Giezu’ as a lay-brother, taking solemn vows and the name of Diegu. He was assigned to walk the streets asking for alms for his convent, and here Fra Diegu became aware of the needs around him. In 1860, following an incident in St.Julians, he asked for and was granted permission to begin to look for destitute girls, taking them in the shelter of a home he set up at Cospicua. At this stage he also started work among orphan girls who begged for a living. In 1885 he opened another small house for them at Balzan under his sister Giovanna Marmara’s care. For the girls in these shelters Fra Diegu used to provide food and also dowries, all this from what he collected from benefactors. With the ever increasing numbers to care for, Diegu opened a shelter in Hamrun made up of two adjacent houses. He called it ‘Institute of St.Francis of Assisi’ and the buildings gave service for a number of years. Meantime, the institute, because of the popularity of the founder, became more popularly known as ‘Fra Diegu Institute’. Between 1898 and 1905, beautiful and spacious new premises on the plan of architect Lupi, were built in Villambrosa str. through the generosity of Marquis Joseph Scicluna. This edifice which is still in use, has a large imposing iron gate as an entrance into a spacious garden through which the building is accessed. Nowadays, because of the size of the facilities, special parties for underprivileged children are sometimes organized and held here by philanthropic groups or companies. See section about Institutions.

Fra Diegu Bonanno did not see the new institute ready because he died two years before it was finished on the 14th May 1902 and was taken privately to the Franciscan mother house. On the occasion of his burial in the Franciscan church at ‘ta Giezu’ in Rabat, the coffin was carried by the most senior of the priests of the order. On the 16th October 1932, a statue of Fra Diegu made by Censu Apap was unveiled in the middle of St.Paul Square Hamrun in the presence of the Archbishop, Governor, clergy and other dignitaries. A special hymn composed by Mro. C.Camilleri was played by the St.Joseph Band Club for the occasion.

ORESTE KIRKOP Tenor

Born in Hamrun on the 26th July 1923, he made his operatic debut on the 24th February 1945 at the Radio City Opera House, Hamrun with Pietro Mascagni’s ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ in the part of Turiddu. Up to 1950 he sung leading tenor roles with Maltese and visiting Italian opera companies. During this time, his repertoire was 10 operas among which was a Maltese opera ‘Il figlio del sole’. He also appeared in concert with Tito Gobbi and Maria Caniglia in 1949/1950. After starting his career overseas in 1950 and increasing his repertoire, he became the leading tenor and the first Maltese to sing a major principal role at the Covent Garden Royal Opera House, London between 1954 and 1958. During this time in 1953, he represented Malta for the ‘Coronation Commonwealth Gala’ and then in 1956 - 1957 he was a guest star at the Hollywood Bowl concerts in Los Angeles.

For some, his title role in Hollywood's musical movie ‘The vagabond king’ was the peak of his career, but for others it seems to have been its ruin. For a little while between 1957 and 1958 he was the leading tenor of the NBC Opera Company, New York and toured some of the major cities of the U.S. Here he also appeared on shows and as the ‘Duke’ in the first ‘Rigoletto’ on T.V. He retired in Malta in 1960.

Writing in Opera magazine, music critic Harold Rosenthal said "The Maltese tenor Oreste Kirkop proved himself to be a singer of real merit. Good tenors are scarce everywhere and worth their weight in gold. Not since Gigli's appearance in Cavaradossi's role, has this been so beautifully sung." In 1979, Malta's state radio won an international competition "Portrait of a Prominent Performing Artist." featuring the career of Oreste and in March of that year, Oreste was honoured by the Malta Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, and presented with a Gold Medal. In 1996 a double CD album containing 41 tracks of opera and song sung by Oreste Kirkop was issued in Malta. He died on the 10th May 1998 and soon a monument in his honour in the form of his bust was raised in the Schembri Street area. The area was refurbished in 2010 and a small public garden erected in his name. See photos Below Right.....

A bronze bas-relief of Oreste Kirkop was unveiled in 2006 in the Manoel Theatre courtyard at Valletta. He is shown in the role of the duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Minister Dr.Zammit Dimech said that Malta's history revolves around characters like Oreste who dedicated their lives to art and music. "Due to their culture, the Maltese distinguished themselves from personalities from other countries," he said.

ANTON BUTTIGIEG Poet, President of Malta

Born in Qala Gozo on the 19th February 1912, he was educated at the local Government Primary School, the Gozo Seminary, St.Aloysius College Malta and the University of Malta, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1934 and Doctor of Laws in 1940. In 1944 he married Carmen Bezzina and they had three children. In 1953, on Carmen’s death, he married Connie Scicluna. His poetry seems to reflect the tragedies of the deaths of his first two wives. In 1975 he married Margery Patterson.

Since his University days Dr.Anton Buttigieg also distinguished himself in the field of Maltese literature. He was one of the founding members of the University Students’ ‘Ghaqda tal-ilsien Malti’. He was also a Member of the ‘Akkademja tal-Ilsien Malti’ among many other illustrious writers and in the 1970’s he won a multitude of awards and distinctions for his poetry and cultural involvements. From the 1940’s through the 1970’s he published a great number of collections of poems he had written. During the WWII he served as Inspector in the Police Force and after that he practiced Law. In 1955 he also served as an acting Magistrate. He was the Law reporter and leading writer of the ‘Times of Malta’ in the 1940’s 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 in 1955. He was re-elected in all subsequent elections and held a seat in Parliament up to the time of his resignation in October 1976 to become the second President of the Republic of Malta, a post which he kept till 1981. During his political career he occupied the positions of President, Deputy Leader, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs within the Malta Labour Party.

From the 1950’s right through the time of his becoming President of the Republic, he represented Malta abroad as delegate to the Malta Constitutional Conferences in London and was also a representative to the Consultative Assembly in the Council of Europe where he was elected Vice-President. Dr.Anton Buttigieg was also President of the St.Cajetan Band Club of Hamrun for a number of years and lived in Hamrun. Nowadays (2006) the presidency of the band club is in the hands of his son. Dr.Anton Buttigieg died on the 5th May, 1983. Exactly two years later to the day, a monument for his honour was unveiled at Blata l-Bajda. This is the work of the sculptor Anton Agius and was cast in bronze in Italy by the company Luigi Tommasi of Lucca.

PROFS.MRO.CHARLES CAMILLERI Composer and Conductor Born on the 7th September 1931 in Hamrun, he started improvising on the piano at an early age and then composing pieces. He always had music in his house, his mother playing the guitar, and the rest being quite musical. He wanted to be creative and not just play someone else’s music, something which his parents thought rebellious and often got him into trouble with his piano teacher. His early childhood was spent practicing the piano and being told off for daring to "rearrange" Mozart or Beethoven. He had his break when he was eleven when he was allowed to compose his first piece. The result was a lively ‘festa’ march which was played at the village feast and for which he was paid the sum of $4. Both his mother and father were scared that the teenager would abandon his academic studies in favour of music. Frequently his father used to give away the boy’s piano, hoping to discourage him, but his mother would always rent it back while his father was away on business. At least his father succeeded in persuading him to complete his academic studies at the Lyceum before dedicating his life to music. At the Lyceum he would spend most of his allowance on biographies of well-known composers, which made him all the more eager to follow suit. The young Charles accompanied the family on business trips to Tunis and it was there that he first became acquainted with Eastern folk music. On a trip to London with the school, he listened to the music at the Royal Albert Hall and here he made the firm decision that his life would take a musical direction.

Charles Camilleri’s eighteenth birthday was a turning point, when the whole family emigrated to Australia, which at the time lacked everything in the art of music. Two years here were more than enough for him and at 20 he left for London on his own. There he met Harold Fielding the impresario and ended up spending some five years touring theatres there. He composed, conducted and managed to integrate himself in the musical circle getting to know the right people. In his mid-twenties he flew off to North America, graduated from the University of Toronto in composition, was asked to do some programmes there and spent what he described as the most exciting 10 years of his life conducting, writing film scores, and being appointed conductor with CBC, earning good money.

Even so, around 1965 he decided to quit and dedicate the rest of his life to composition. He went back to London, where he was introduced to Basil Ramsey of Novello publications and Bernard Hermann the composer. He was signed up with them as a composer and from then on dedicated himself full time to this art, traveling from London to Malta and other countries. To date, his compositions number over 300, of which half are recorded on CDs and sold all over the world. His family too has caught some of his enthusiasm because his wife Doris is an established writer, his daughter Anya works in the movie industry while his son Charles became a composer in his own right. Prof.Camilleri nowadays lives both in London and Malta and travels extensively. His work has been performed throughout the world and the list includes Piano Improvisation books, Piano Sonatinas, a Brass Quintet, his now famous ‘Malta Suite’, his ‘Maltese Dances’, a Maltese Overture ‘Din l-Art Helwa’, operas in Maltese, a ballet based on the Knights of Malta and over 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice and solo instruments. His latest composition is ‘Dun Gorg’, an oratorio honouring Blessed George Preca and has lyrics by Oliver Friggieri. It is similar to his other Oratorio ‘Pawlu ta Malta’ though with some distinctive differences.

Egidio Lapira Was born in Hamrun 16th February 1897. He studied at the Lyceum and Dentistry at the Universities of Malta and Rome. In 1925 he was the first Maltese dentist working and teaching at the General hospital. He later became head of the faculty of Dentistry and was one of the founders of the Association of Dentists. He was serving at the military hospital through both World Wars. He was honoured by a D.SC. Honoris Causa by the University of Malta and later with the Order of the British Empire. Egidio Lapira died on the 8th December 1970.

Please see also Pastors and Priests section for important people of the Clergy.

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