Having been the first-ever Professor of Chemistry and Dean of Chemistry at the University of Malta, Cleardo Naudi constitutes an essential piece of the puzzle in every historically accurate account of Malta’s Contemporary Medicine.
Naudi’s story is not only relevant to the local medical community, but to all inclined to navigate through life with a philosophical and critical lens. One such remarkable person is Roger Ellul-Micallef, rector emeritus, who has meticulously and insightfully recounted the pursuits of this “Delphian and Enigmatic Academic”.
Cleardo Naudi: The University’s First Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica is Ellul-Micallef’s second publication with the Malta University Press, the university’s only academic publisher.
The first book, titled Roberto Ranieri Costaguti: From Pulpit to Chair to Bishop See, was published in 2018. The new book was launched on June 21 at the Aula Prima within the scenic Valletta Campus, in the presence of a substantial number of former colleagues of Ellul Micallef, fellow academics, family and friends.
A Delphian and Enigmatic Academic
Chaired by Ġorġ Mallia, the Head of the Department of Media & Communications within the Faculty of Media & Knowledge Sciences, and the chairperson of the editorial board of the Malta University Press, the event included deeply insightful interventions by current UM rector, Alfred J. Vella, who wrote the foreword to the book and who is a chemistry professor himself, Emanuel Sinagra, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Jean Paul De Lucca, Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, and Emanuel Buttigieg, Associate Professor at the Department of History.
A concluding speech by the author himself wrapped up the event, as he thanked the audience for attending.
A reception with light refreshments after the launch offered an opportunity for colleagues, old and new, to network while further discussing the book.
A copy of the book has also been donated to the UM Library Melitensia, therefore making the material available for consultation purposes by the UM community, and beyond.
The book (available in both hardback and paperback formats) can be purchased from the MUP online store: um.edu.mt/mup/store/