Anton Buttigieg Explained

Honorific-Prefix:His Excellency
Anton Buttigieg
Honorific-Suffix:KUOM
Office1:2nd President of Malta
Term Start1:27 December 1976
Term End1:27 December 1981
Primeminister1:Dom Mintoff
Predecessor1:Sir Anthony Mamo
Successor1:Albert Hyzler (Acting); Agatha Barbara
Birth Date:19 February 1912
Birth Place:Qala, Crown Colony of Malta
Death Place:Qala, Malta
Party:Labour Party
Spouse:Carmen Bezzina
(1944-1953)
Connie Scicluna
(1953-1975)
Margery Patterson
(1975-1983)
Children:3

Anton Buttigieg (Maltese: Anton Buttiġieġ pronounced as /mt/; 19 February 1912 – 5 May 1983)[1] was a Maltese political figure and poet. He served as the second president of Malta from 1976 until 1981.

Early life

Anton Buttigieg was born in Qala, Gozo, on 19 February 1912, the third child of Salvatore and Concetta (née Falzon) Buttigieg. He was educated at the Government Primary School, Qala (from 1916 to 1922), the Gozo Seminary (from 1923 to 1927), St Aloysius' College Malta (from 1928 to 1930) and the University of Malta, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1934, and Doctor of Laws in 1940.

Marriages

In 1944 he married Censina and had three children – John, Rose and Emanuel. She then died.

In 1953 he married Connie Scicluna, who also predeceased him.

In 1975, he married, lastly, to Margery Patterson.

Career

During World War II (1942–1944), he served in the Maltese Police Force as an Inspector, and after he practised the 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.

Political life

He embarked on a political career and was first elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Labour Party 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.

Presidency

On 27 December 1976, he was elected as the second President of Malta to replace Sir Anthony Mamo.

Poetry

Buttigieg also distinguished himself in the field of literature. During his undergraduate days he was one of the founder members of the 'Għaqda tal-Malti – Università' (26 January 1931). He was a Member of the L-Akkademja tal-Malti (Academy of the Maltese Language).

Awards

Publications

Lyrical poetry

Humorous poetry

Haiku and tanka

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&dq=Anton+Buttigieg+1983&pg=PA540 Profile of Anton Buttigieg