Appreciation: Saluting Charles Galea Bonavia, the Maltese ‘Radagast’
Beyond dentistry, ‘Ċalli’ was a locally and internationally recognised figure in ornithology and natural history
I was deeply saddened to learn of Dr Charles Galea Bonavia’s passing on December 19. Charles was an immensely learned gentleman, unassuming and kind, who always preferred to fly under the radar.
Born in the shadow of World War II, ‘Ċalli’ grew up in a highly decorated, albeit deeply scarred, island nation finding its way through great political turbulence towards independence and republic status.
Orphaned at a tender age and raised among cousins in Rabat, he developed an early love of reading and nature. His lifelong colleague and firm friend, Klaus Vella Bardon, fondly recalls Charles’s youthful wanderings through his beloved Maltese countryside, as well as his spirited brushes with hunters in his youth.
Qualified and registered as a dental practitioner in 1972, Charles served the local community with the highest intellectual and moral honesty.
His work at Vella Bardon Dental Clinic in Balzan, which he joined at Klaus’s invitation in 1982, was marked by the practice’s hallmark professionalism and social conscience, as well as Charles’s own unwavering loyalty.
The practice further flourished when Frank Vella Bardon joined it a few years later, with Charles remaining deeply respected and loved by patients and colleagues alike. Despite his challenges in life, his warmth and good cheer contributed to a collegial and collaborative atmosphere at the dental clinic.
Beyond dentistry, Charles was a locally and internationally recognised figure in ornithology and natural history.
He contributed to the Malta Bird Report, co-authored studies on migratory birds and undertook research with academics from the universities of Lecce and Florence. His dedication led him as far afield as South America to patiently observe birds for hours, as well as making him a point of reference to institutions such as the Natural History Museum in London.
He was also a leading authority on fossils, even co-authoring a scientific paper with Maltese experts and Italian academics on newly discovered toothed whale fossils presented at the Darwin–Bernissart Congress in Brussels in 2009.
Despite these notable achievements, ‘Ċalli’ will probably be best remembered for his warm smile and love of family and friends. He was an infectious bookworm and a devoted Tolkien enthusiast since boyhood. He was known to recite Tolkien’s poems from memory, which even earned him the affectionate nickname ‘Radagast the Brown’, after the wizard who is closest to birds and nature.
While we are grateful to have befriended him in life, his passing cannot but bring to mind Gandalf the White’s words at the Grey Havens: “I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”