PRESIDENTS OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA - 2 ANTON BUTTIGIEG 1912-1983 PROFILE Born in Qala, Gozo, on the 19 Feburary 1912, son of Salvu Buttigieg and Concetta née Falzon, Anton Buttigieg received his primary education at the Qala Government School. He continued his education at the Gozo Seminary and at the St Aloysius College, Birkirkara. In 1940, he graduated in Law from the Royal University of Malta. By 1944, he married Carmen Bezzina and had three children. Following Carmen’s early demise, he married Connie Scicluna in 1953, whom he also lost tragically in a traffic accident, three years later. He then married Margery Helen Patterson in 1975. Buttigieg was appointed as the second President of the Republic of Malta in 1976, aged 64. He served this office from 27 December 1976 until 27 December 1981. Anton Buttigieg passed away on Thursday, 5 May 1983, aged 71, and was given a state funeral, with the funeral mass being held at St John’s Co-Cathedral. The internment was held at the Santa Maria Addolorata at Section West Division A-R-4. POLITICAL CAREER Anton Buttigieg started his political career when he contested the 1951 and 1953 general elections with the Constitutional Party, without being elected. In 1955, he contested the elections for the first time with the Malta Labour Party (MLP), without any success. Despite this, the following year he became a parliamentary member when he replaced Ġużè Flores, who had resigned. From 1959 to 1961, he was President of the MLP and for several years was also its Deputy Leader. In 1942, he contested the elections again with the MLP and was elected on the 8th District. He was re-elected in the three consecutive elections, that is 1966, 1971 and 1976. He became Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister during the legislature of 1971 to 1976, and was appointed as the second President of Malta when Sir Anthony Mamo’s presidency came to an end in 1976. OFFICE AND DUTIES During his career, Buttigieg occupied several offices among which was that of a police officer between 1942 and 1944. By the end of war in 1944, he started out as a journalist with the Times of Malta, a post which he held until 1948. He then practiced law and in 1955 served as an Acting Magistrate. Between 1959 and 1970, he became the editor of the MLP journal, The Voice of Malta. During the Constitutional Conferences held in London in 1958 and 1964, he was part of the MLP delegation. For about 28 years, from 1955 until his death in 1983, he was President of the Ħamrun St Gaetan Musical Society. OTHER INFORMATION Anton Buttigieg is renowned as the Poet of Nature for the many poems he wrote on the subject. He introduced in the Maltese literature the Japanese style of poetry known as tanka and ħajku. Monuments in his honour are found at Blata l-Bajda and Qala, Gozo, while gardens in both Ħamrun and St Paul’s Bay are named after him. In 2018, a library at San Anton Palace was inaugurated after him. There are also several streets named in his honour, namely at Iklin, Żejtun, Ħamrun, Pembroke and Qala, Gozo. © 2021 Publishing.