Life stranger than fiction?

There is always a certain resonance when history and fiction coincide. In the rarely produced opera L’Alpino composed by Carlo Diacono and expertly performed on January 31 at the Manoel Theatre, a particular piece of theatrical drama recalled a real life event as the love-stricken Nella stepped into the firing line and took a shot (literally) intended for her fiancée Enzo. 

Mortally wounded, Nella implored Enzo to fight patriotically for Italy against the Austro-Hungarian invaders so that he might be killed and join her in heaven!

The Beautiful Mrs Graham by Thomas Gainsborough

A strikingly similar situation relating to Malta during the Napoleonic Wars arose in the case of Thomas Graham one of the first British offers to arrive in Malta in 1798. A few years earlier, as a well-to-do civilian landowner, he accompanied his consumptive wife (subject of the artist Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait The Beautiful Mrs Graham) for a cure in France which alas was not successful and she passed away abroad. 

As Graham accompanied her mortal remains back to England, French customs officials insisted on opening her coffin to search for firearms. Graham, incensed when the French opened her coffin and disturbed her corpse, vowed on the spot to join the British Army to be killed fighting the French, thus ensuring that he would join his wife in heaven! 

Graham who raised a regiment of Maltese Light Infantry had a soft spot for Malta returning to visit in 1842 when he was over 90 years of age and nearly blind.

Graham was so devoted to his wife that he never married again and kept a lock of her hair in his gold ring which he wore until his dying day. 

Christopher Grech – Mosta

Weak sentences

Wow, someone at last noticed the weak sentences Mohamed Ali Ahmen Elmushraty also known a Lilu King is being served at the courts (AG contests Lilu King’s bail, February 1). The latter deserved to be deported a long time ago. 

Elmushraty keeps on fattening his lawyers’ pockets while the public keeps on facing a repeat alleged criminal. 

I bet he enjoys the publicity afforded him by local newspapers as if he were a celebrity. His finances ought to be confiscated and kicked out of the island, today before tomorrow. Courts, please wake up.

Alfred Gauci – Sliema