Legal Procurator, Merchant, and Politician
A politician and a prominent man of letters, Evaristo Castaldi was born in Vittoriosa. He was a member of the Nationalist movement on its establishment by Dr Fortunato Mizzi in 1885.
Castaldi supported Lord Strickland in many of the reforms which he judged to be in the best public interest. He remained, however, staunch in his devotion to Italian language and culture. Strickland saw him as an ‘undesirable’, ‘an enemy within the camp’: ‘the first opportunity was taken to get rid of him’.
Fortunato Mizzi*’s withdrawal from the Council of Government in 1889 left a vacuum which was not easily to be filled by another politician. In nine years the PN had four different ‘leaders’: Baron Alessandro Chapelle*, a lawyer (1889-1891), Evaristo Castaldi, a devout Mizzian (1890-1894), Mgr Alfredo Mifsud*, a liberal ecclesiastic and historian (1894-1896), and Dr Salvatore Grech, formerly a Savonian (1896-1898).
Evaristo Castaldi dominated the parliamentary PN between 1890 and 1894. In 1892 as an official member of the executive, Castaldi acted as liaison, keeping his elected colleagues informed of what went on behind closed doors. In 1892 Castaldi described the PN as ‘il gran partito capitanato dal patriotta Dr Mizzi’.
Castaldi was a member of the executive council. He was elected from the 5th district, comprising Vittoriosa and Senglea: in 1889 with 210 votes, and in 1892 with 591 votes. His health did not allow him to re-enter public life after the granting of the self-government in 1921, although his advice and encouragement was given to one and all.
Well-versed in the English Language, he accompanied Mizzi to London several times.
Castaldi, an important member of the mercantile community, was one of the most widely-read men on the island and an Italian scholar. In 1898 he was president of the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce and of the Agrarian Society. He was a man with whom it was a pleasure to work and to argue questions on their own merits.
This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.