Politician

Born in Valletta, Savona was educated at the Lyceum and joined the Royal Malta Fencible Regiment  in 1852. He went to Battersea College, England to be trained in education. He was appointed schoolmaster of the RMFR where he served until 1865.

In 1875 Savona entered politics and was elected to the Council of Government where he upheld the abolition of the grain tax. In June 1880 he was appointed director of education. He continued in this office for seven years, when, unwilling to submit to certain arrangements made by the government without his concurrence, he resigned his high office with all its emoluments.

Savona took to teaching, politics, and writing, denouncing unsparingly all that of which he did not approve. 

He joined the Reform Party (RP) and edited the newspaper Public Opinion (18 February 1867-27 June 1908). This was an influential political paper, owned and compiled by Savona who was one of the main protagonists of the local political scene in the nineteenth century. This was the first authoritative English-language newspaper to be published by a Maltese and it expounded Savona’s political beliefs. The paper became the organ of the Reform Party, criticizing the 1887 Constitution, the government and the PN. In the language question debate, it supported the diffusion of English for utilitarian reasons and considered the decline of Italian as a natural and unavoidable consequence.

The paper was suspended in July 1898 when Savona retired from politics, only to resume publication in May 1906 still under his editorship. It permanently ceased publication in 1908 due to the death of Savona.

Sigismondo Savona also edited the Maltese weekly Malta Tagħna (23 May 1891-10 June 1939). This long-standing political paper in the vernacular was a radical anti-government publication. It criticized the 1887 Constitution and Savona’s political rivals so harshly that its editor was repeatedly condemned for libel. For this reason, the paper changed its name to Malta Ghada Taghna and later to Malta Dejjem Taghna.

Until 1897, it was the Maltese-language organ of the Popular Party led by Savona. Following Savona’s death in 1908, the paper gradually lost the political importance it had enjoyed.

In 1898 he started editing the daily Il Patriota (31 October 1898-8 April 1916). Commissioned by its shareholders to Sigismondo Savona, the political paper was initially the organ of the Popular Party in the Italian-language press. Having failed to reach the circulation figures expected by the shareholders, Savona had his contract terminated in 1898. He was replaced by Antonio Dalli who was also an important figure in the Popular Party.

When the RP contested the elections of 1889, Savona was returned with the highest number of votes. In the 1891 elections, Savona joined forces with Evaristo Castaldi in the interest of the newly-formed Partito Unionista. Two years later, he reconstituted the Reform Party and in 1895 he allied himself with Mgr. I.  Panzavecchia*, Antonio Dalli, and Dr Andreà Pullicino and formed the Partito Popolare. Savona retired from politics in 1898.

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