Commentary

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  • Paulo Pullicino – Travel diary (1885) – Part 1 – Italy

    Viaggio in Italia, Baviera e Svizzera nell’ estate del 1885 is available at the University of Malta as a set of two documents. The handwritten scans have never been transcribed and translated. Transcribing handwriting is a difficult and time consuming process that involves guesswork. Plus it appears that Canon Pullicino has an incredible knowledge of…

  • Funeral oration – Mons. Paulo Pullicino, 1890

    The eulogy was written by Sac. Prof. Luigi Farrugia in 1890, and made into a pamphlet. At the time Prof. Farrugia was the teacher of Latin at the Lyceum. It starts with a dedication to Prof. Giovanni Pullicino, Don Paulo’s nephew. The original Italian can be read also. We welcome any corrections by Italian speakers,…

  • Memories of Marianna Schembri (1793–1831)

    To the Most Illustrious Lady M. Anne Schembri, most skilled in the Musical Art, and endowed with wonderful and rare virtue in playing the Cymbals. Epigram.Why do you dwell in these distant lands, you of blessed lineage?You deserve to live in the foremost cities of the world, Nymph.There reside the Nymphs and your sisters of…

  • Books to note

    The following four books were written by Sir Philip’s children. No Strangers in the Silent City by Anne Agius Ferrante (1925 –2023). This book is a short collection of anecdotes about village life in Mdina, Rabat and surrounds when Anne was a child. Not so much about the family itself, but there are occasional tidbits.…

  • Directory of Maltese lawyers 1766-1947

    The following is a searchable database based on a document in the possession of the Maltese Court of Appeal that was copied by Judge Robert Ganado, and then subsequently published by the esteemed historian, Albert Ganado, in his book  Judge Robert Ganado. A history of the Government Departments from 1815 and lawyers from 1666, at…

  • Philip Pullicino’s colleagues (1915)

    Please help identify unknown people in this photo. No. Face Name Comments 1 Arturo Mercieca Held senior posts in the British administration, including government solicitor and chief justice. Knighted. Exiled to Uganda during World War 2 for being an Italian sympathiser.  2 Augustus Bartolo A powerful political force in Malta. He owned a major newspaper.…

  • 1921 Maltese Parliament and Senate

    For Philip, yet to be Sir Philip, the year 1921 wasn’t just a historical footnote; it was a personal and political whirlwind. As Malta’s economy experienced post-war inflation and the streets buzzed with the clamor of social unrest, Philip — then the island’s Advocate for the Poor, essentially early 20th-century legal aid — faced challenges.…

  • Ven. Sister Jacopa Pollicino (1439-1509+)

    As dawn broke in 1464, near Messina on a rustic mountainside, the first stone of a new convent was laid by two nuns, Sister Eustochia and Sister Jacopa. Their attire, the simple garb of the Poor Clares, mirrored their humble lives. Later, the ink from Jacopa’s pen, narrating the life of Saint Eustochia, saved an…

  • A biographical sketch of Anthony A. Pullicino

    The following article entitled ‘Lessons of Life’ appeared in the Independent weekend magazine ‘First’, in June 2009, and was written by Tony’s son, Paul. Lessons of Life The war was not over although the Luftwaffe air raids over Malta had long ceased. In a wine bar in Gozo, a small group of  young men were…

  • Reminsences of my grandparents, Tony and Edith.

    These are my childhood memories, corrupted by time and young age. I left Malta at age 7, and remember something of Tony and my grandmother, Edith. They lived in a flat on Tower Road. We also lived on Tower Road at that time. The sunsets and sailboats from a third floor flat were incredibly beautiful.…

  • Judge Giovanni’s children

    Giovanni married Giorgina Mifsud at St John’s Co-Cathedral Valletta on 11 February 1885, and had six children, two of whom died within one year, and one at the age of 27. Their first child was Philip, born on 21 November 1885. He lived a long life until 16 July 1960, earning a knighthood and the…

  • The 1913 Eucharistic Congress in Malta

    The XXIV Eucharistic Congress in Malta was presided over by Cardinal Domenico Ferrata, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Sacraments, as the Papal Legate. Of interest, the British press expressed disapproval that Cardinal Bourne, the Archbishop of Westminster, wasn’t nominated as the Papal Legate. Five Cardinals and 52 Bishops attended the event, including clergy…