Librarian, Musician, Archaeologist and Author
According to Albert Ganado and Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez, in their encyclopedia, published in 2018, the parentage of Cesare presents a historical mystery. At birth he was registered as the son of Antonio Vassallo and Maddalena non conjunctum de nostra Par. His father’s name seems to have been fictitious and different names are given in his marriage and death certificates. Quite recently he was said to be of Don Carlo d’Evoli (Madrid 1761-Naples 1815), 4th Duca di Castropignano, Duca di Campomele. As a widower, the Duke spent some time in Valletta with the British Government. He met Maddalena Vassallo who followed him to Palermo and Campomele. Due to his position in the royal court at Palermo, he kept Maddalena on as a mistress. In his will he left a legacy giving his sons Cesare and Vincenzo an education with the British establishment.
Cesare Vassallo, a multi-talented personality studied Law at the UM, graduated in 1826 but obtaining warrant on 12 September 1836.
He taught Italian at the Lyceum in Valletta from November 1833.
In January 1839 Vassallo was appointed librarian and keeper of antiquities of the National Library in Valletta, a post which he retained until his retirement in 1880.
As librarian, Vassallo carried out research on Dr Bellanti’s work. During Vassallo’s tenure of office, the public library became more efficient with the publication of a series of catalogues of its printed works and manuscripts. Vassallo was one of a series of scholarly persons appointed Librarian. He also formed the nucleus of our archeological museum. He served between 1839 to 1880, when he retired, and was the Public Library’s longest serving librarian. Cesare Vassallo was also librarian of the UM between 1839 and 1942.
Between 1843 and 1844 he published four volumes of the books at the Public Library classied by subject, with supplimenys published in 1873. In 1857 he published in six volumes an alphabetical index of works at the Public Library in Latin, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portughese.
In 1838 Cesare Vassallo was organist and Maestro di Cappella in the Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck at Valletta, succeeding Maestro Emanuele Galea, and precedes maestro Vincenzo Bugeja. He was also maestro di cappella of the matrice in Victoria, Gozo between 1833 and 1843.
As maestro di cappella, Vassallo composed various pieces of sacred music, easy of execution and often performed in churches. Some of his 50 compositions are conserved at the Cathedral Museum in Mdina, at the Gozo Cathedral archives and at various churches in Malta. For St Paul and other churches, he wrote a profusion of interestung sacred compositions, including the great antiphon Hodie Maria Virgo, which is still the festa antiphon of Gozo’s Cathedral.
He was member of the Cabinetto Letterario e di Storia Naturale di Siracusa from 1858, and an unknown but accomplished amateur watercolourist.
He was also an archaeologist who was involved in the discovery and excavation of the Punic tombs at Tal-Qwabar in Marsa, in the second investigation of a hypogeum at Jesuits’ Hill in Marsa, and in the discovery at the hypogea at Mistra, limits of Mellieħa.
On 17 September 1829 Cesare married Gaetana Bugeja, daughter of the composer Paolo Bugeja and had four children: Filippo, Antonia, Nicola and Enrico.
This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.