Government Press Release
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HONOURS AND AWARDS 2019 NATIONAL ORDER OF MERIT COMPANION KARMENU VELLA KOM Born in Zurrieq in 1950, Karmenu Vella graduated in Architecture and Civil Engineering from the University of Malta, and later obtained a Master of Science in Tourism Management from the University of Sheffield. Vella served and contributed to the Maltese democratic process for over four decades. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 and continued to be re-elected in the elections that followed, for nine consecutive times. During his political career he has been appointed Minister for Public Works, Minister for Industry and Minister for Tourism twice. Karmenu Vella vacated his parliamentary seat in 2014, following his nomination as European Commissioner. During his term in office as European Commissioner responsible for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Vella addressed some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time and thus helped improving the well- being of our citizens and our planet. Under his leadership, the European Union adopted and implemented in full the Circular Economy Action Plan, adopted new rules to reduce single-use plastic products, updated the EU’s waste legislation and stepped up action to improve air quality across Europe and made concrete progress in halting the decline of the EU’s biodiversity. During his mandate, Karmenu Vella also developed a leading international role for the European Union in the field of ocean governance, promoted the blue economy including through increased investment, and worked to improve the environmental, economic and social sustainability of fisheries in Europe and around the world. HONORARY OFFICER PROF. JOVAN KURBALIJA UOM Prof. Jovan Kurbalija has a professional and academic background in international law, diplomacy, and information technology. He has been a pioneer in the field of cyber diplomacy since 1992 when he established the Unit for Information Technology and Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta. Prof. Kurbalija is the Founding Director of DiploFoundation and the Head of the Geneva Internet Platform. The DiploFoundation has been a pioneer in research and capacity development programmes in digital technology for over 15 years, promoting the development, dissemination, and use of information technology in the field of diplomacy and international relations. Under the leadership of Prof Kurbalija and through the joint support and sponsorship of Malta and Switzerland, this foundation has progressively established itself as a valid and important actor on the international scene with a recognised role in both the development as well as the dissemination of ideas related to issues of digital policy and internet governance. Since 1997, Prof. Kurbalija’s research and articles on cyber diplomacy have shaped research and policy discussion on the impact of the Internet on diplomacy and international relations. Prof. Kurbalija lectures on e-diplomacy and Internet governance in academic and training institutions in many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, the United States and Malta. PROF. RAYMOND MANGION MOM Raymond Mangion was born in Ħamrun in 1959. He was a script-writer for rediffusion and radio at a very young age. In 1978, he was the first person in the history of broadcasting in Malta to initiate a long series about the Maltese towns and villages and about Maltese biographies. In 1981, he started criss-crossing Malta to conserve for posterity the Maltese nation’s collective memory. His work now consists in the conservation of hundreds of memories. In the same year, he assisted the then President of Malta Dr Anton Buttigieg in the writing of his auto- biography ‘Il-Minġel tal-Gwerra’. In 1997, Raymond carried out intensive research in the Archives of Palermo, Sicily, and managed to trace a copy of the Capitula and Constitutions of Apulus of Sicily (1497) that applied to Malta in the Late Middle Age. In the same year, with the permission of the Malta House of Representatives, he transcribed the Minutes of the first Malta Council of Government (1835-1849). He ensured the conservation of a document of great historical importance. Raymond is a graduate in Law, History, Patristics, Linguistics, Literature and Communication Studies. He was awarded a scholarship by the University of Malta to proceed with his studies at the University of Oxford, UK, from where he earned his second Doctor in Law with focus on the History of Legislation. He is a writer and editor of several books and was the first person to publish a comprehensive History of Legislation in Malta under British Rule (1814-1964). He also embarked on the codification of the Rulings by the Speakers of the Maltese Parliament (1921-1964). Raymond Mangion is currently a Professor of Law and Legal History at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta. TONY ZAHRA MOM Tony Zahra was born in Sliema in 1945 and he is currently the President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association. Zahra is considered one of the pioneers of the Maltese tourism industry and throughout his career he has owned and managed tour operating companies in the UK and Holland, a Destination Management company, hotels and other accommodations in Malta. He started his business career at the age of 18, investing in a car hire company. This coincided with the emergence in Malta of a fledgling tourism industry. In 1995 when the Financial services industry was in its early development, he set up Fexserv Financial Services, a company dealing with foreign exchange and money transfer. Over the years this financial services activity has expanded to include Fund Management, Fund Administration, and more recently, Pensions. Zahra has had interests in manufacturing and was the Vice President of the Federation of Industries during the period 1981 – 1984. In 1976, Tony was appointed as Director on the board of the then Malta Development Corporation which is now known as the Malta Enterprise. He was also Director of the then government owned Malta International Airport, a Director of Air Malta, Chairman of Malta Industrial Parks and more recently on the advisory board of Malta National Development and Social Fund. He is a founder member for the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation, bringing together stakeholders from many Mediterranean countries to cooperate in the field of Tourism. In 1994, Tony Zahra was appointed as Hon Consul General for the Republic of Lithuania. He is currently the President of the Malta Tourism Foundation and forms part of the Lisa Maria foundation which is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, set up specifically to safeguard children and young adults from harm. HONORARY MEMBER PROF. JOSEPH A BUTTIGIEG MOM (POSTHUMOUS) Born in Hamrun in 1947, Professor Joseph A. Buttigieg completed his undergraduate work and a master’s degree at the University of Malta. He earned a second postgraduate degree, a B.Phil from Heythrop College in Oxford, England and then migrated to the United States in order to pursue his Doctorate in English at the State University of New York where he earned his Ph.D in 1976 with a dissertation on aesthetics in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. That same year he moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to teach at New Mexico State University. In 1979 he was naturalized as a US citizen. Buttigieg specialized in modern European literature and theory publishing numerous articles, essays and books. He also translated and edited the three-volume English edition of Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks. He was also a founding member and President of the International Gramsci Society. At Notre Dame University (Indiana), Buttigieg held many leadership and administrative roles, including as Chair of the Department of English, Director of the London Program, and Director of the Hesburgh- Yusko Scholars Program, where he mentored some of the college’s most promising undergraduate students, with an emphasis on service and leadership. MIDALJA GĦALL-QADI TAR-REPUBBLIKA ANTHONY BEZZINA MQR Anthony Bezzina was born in Paola, in 1948. He is a renowned entrepreneur and considered as a local leader in maritime affairs. He is highly respected in his locality for his contributions in the social and philantropic spheres. After completing his studies, Bezzina joined his father in the family business. Showing initiative and maturity well beyond his years, he advanced through the ranks currently occupying the position of Director of all the companies forming part of Bezzina Group. This Group is formed of 4 corporations namely, Salv Bezzina and Sons Ltd, Bezzina Maritime Services Ltd, Bezzina Ship Repair Yard Ltd, and Bezzina Steel Fabrications Ltd. For the past 38 years, Anthony Bezzina has been President of Hibernians FC. Under his stewardship, Hibernians FC launched a football nursery where children from the locality and its surroundings would improve the technical abilities in football in a sound environment. FR ĠANMARI CAUCHI MQR Can John Mary Cauchi, better known as Fr Ġanmari Cauchi was born in 1942 in Għarb, Gozo. In 1963, when he was 21 years of age, he moved to Brazil to pursue his studies in Theology. Archbishop José Maria Pires ordained Father Ġanmari Cauchi as a priest in the diocese of Paraiba in 1967 where he gave service for around 50 years. Father Cauchi was the Bishop of various parishes and he assisted farmers through an organization of the Brazilian Catholic Church known as the Land Pastoral Commission whose aim is to help poor farming families to acquire a piece of land, often having lived on it for several years. His work was not always accepted especially by the land owners and there were occasions where he was also threatened with a firearm. When he reached 75 years of age and after having spent 50 years as a priest in Brazil, he decided to return to the island of Gozo where he is still giving service at the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary and the Pompeii Home for the Elderly.