The first Maltese Playwright

The Cospicua-born, Luigi Rosato, the son of Francesco and Fortunata née Fenech has been often credited with the introduction of the Maltese language on the local stage. Rosato was first engaged for three months as first chorus member and singer of minor roles at the Manoel Theatre in 1821. This contract continued to be renewed for many years.

Between 1822 and 1846 Rosato sang in different operas as: Il Pellegrino Bianco (1822), Riccardo e Zoriade (1825), Bianca e Gernando (1830), Fausto (1835), Il Rinnegato (1836), Il Bravo (1836), Lucrezia Borgia (1837); Torvaldo e Doriesca (1837), L’Italiana in Algeri (1837), La Gazza Ladra (1839), and Il Nuovo Figaro (1843).

Rosato wrote the first play in Maltese which was performed at the Manoel Theatre on 16 June 1838, and later published in book form in 1847 under the title: Catarina: Dramma Storico Argomento Patrio in Idioma Maltese. He wrote also Il-Konġura ta’ l-Erba’ Ħotbin.

Rosato retained his active interest in the theatre long after his retirement. In 1864 he was directing the newly formed theatre group L-Aurora in Valletta.

He was married to Anna Rebench.

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

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.