Philologist and Author

Born in Lija, son of Paolo Preca and Anna née Bisettini and a third generation descendant of Michelangelo and Antonia Debono, Annibale is remembered as a philologist who did his utmost to propagate the use of the Maltese language.

Preca was educated at the Lyceum and went on to become a school teacher at the Mosta government school.  He had a good knowledge of several languages including Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syrian, Arabic, and Portugese. He was also well-versed in English, Italian, French, and Spanish, but his love of his native tongue urged him to carry out research and publish his studies, including Saggio intorno alla Lingua Maltese come affine dell’Ebraico (1880), Alfabett Fonetiku Malti (1883), and L-Ewwel Ktieb tal-Qari Malti  (1885) . 

Preca, a prolific writer, contributed to Is-Sebħ and other magazines.  Beside his many contributions on various topics in Mogħdija taż-Żmien, published by one of his ex-students, Alfons M. Galea, he also wrote Storja Sagra tat-Testment il-Qadim u tat-Testment il-Ġdid, Storja Sagra, 4 volumes, and Tifsir fuk il Cotba tal Bibbia.  He was also the author of various publications on social, religious, historical, geographical, and literary subjects.

Preca’s posthumous Malta Cananea (1904) dealt with the origin of the Maltese language and proved to be a controversial book for many years. 

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.