August 4, 1927: The death was announced of Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi, Maltese lawyer, poet, novelist, playwright, editor, politician and social commentator.

Born on September 1, 1853, in Qormi, the son of Francesco Muscat and Generosa Azzopardi (hence his double-barrelled surname), Muscat Azzopardi at first seemed destined for priesthood, which explains his comparatively short-lived attendance at the Mdina seminary. But he soon changed tact and diverted his attention to law by following the course of legal procurator (LP) at the University of Malta from where he graduated on October 6, 1876.

He was very successful in this profession and also became, for a time, president of the Chamber of Advocates. With regard to criminal law, Muscat Azzopardi formed part of the anti-capital punishment lobby and expressed his views in clear and unambiguous terms in a strongly-worded article in the newspaper In-Naħla Maltija published on April 17, 1878.

In 1885, Muscat Azzopardi suffered from a debilitating but unspecified illness that kept him confined to his sick-bed for nine months, prompting him to later declare that he had seriously thought he was going to die.

But better days lay ahead, and on January 31, 1887, he married Antonia Fenech from Cospicua, to whom he had dedicated his first novel in 1886, titled Ċejlu Tonna, Fatt Malti fi Żmien it-Torok. They had seven children in all – Leo, Ugo, Oscar, Ivo, Lea, Gino and Pio; two of them, Ivo (1893-1965) and Gino (1899-1982), became well-known authors like their father. By 1900, Leo and Lea had passed away at a very young age and their loss prompted Muscat Azzopardi to express his anguished feelings in verse.

The most popular works he produced were his historical novels

The title page of the third edition (in 1907) of Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi’s Life of St George, which he had translated from Italian and was his first prose publication in 1874.

Muscat Azzopardi’s writings, in fact, made him so well-known that he was dubbed with the title of ‘Missier il-Letteratura Maltija’ (the father of Maltese literature) by Dr Ġużè Micallef (1891-1940). He was very well-versed in Italian and Latin and, actually, his first poetry (in 1870 and 1871) was in Italian, which was the language of culture in those days. However, he soon changed over to his mother tongue, Maltese, with his very first Maltese publication being Il-Ħajja ta’ San Ġorġ Martri (the life of St George the martyr) in 1874, which he translated from the Italian version written by a priest, Eldrado de Fazy.

From then onwards, Maltese became his main writing medium, and he even roped in other authors to follow his footsteps, notably the future national poet of Malta, Dun Karm (Mgr Carmelo) Psaila (1871-1961), and the Carmelite Friar Fr Anastasio Cuschieri (1876-1962), who both extolled him for his writings and his expert use of the Maltese language.

The well-known Gozitan linguist and author Antonio Cremona (1880-1962), popularly known as Is-Sur Nin, wrote that his poetry was “the first classical verse that had been written in those days” and classified him as “the greatest figure that breathed new life in the Maltese language”.

With regard to his liturgical writings, Mgr Joseph Lupi (1914-2000) dubbed him the “pioneer of the Maltese liturgical movement”, while Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (l-Gross) (1897-1948) extolled him as “the prince of all the Maltese writers”.

The title page of the first edition (in 1909) of Nazju Ellul, including a personal handwritten dedication by Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi to his friend Rev. Dr Emmanuel Pace, the Qormi-born parish priest of Qormi (1888-1917).

The title page of Poesie in Vernacolo, Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi’s first publication (in 1876) of his poetry in Italian that, however, also included four Maltese poems.

Muscat Azzopardi’s poetry has been published in a number of publications, including: Versi (1876), a 100-page book of Italian verse but including four poems in Maltese; L-Għasar tal-Madonna: Poeżija bil-Malti (1886), 32 pages of verse that are actually translations from Italian; Ħamsin Poeżija bil-Malti in 148 pages (1890); Ġabra Żgħira – Proża u Poeżija, published posthumously as a 32-page supplement of Il-Malti in 1928. Finally, in 1956, his sons Ivo and Gino published Muscat Azzopardi’s sonnets in a 56-page book titled Ġabra Sħiħa ta’ Sunetti, bi Studju Fuqhom tal-Kittieb Innifsu.

Perhaps pride of place of his religious publications should go to his 687-page translation from Latin of the missal: Il-Ktieb tal-Quddies maqlub mil-Latin għall-Malti minn fuq il-Missal Kelma b’Kelma in 1918. To this volume one has to add his translations of the four evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles between 1895 and 1917.

The first page of the first issue of Il-Ħabib which Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi directed from 1912 till 1916. Courtesy: Aps Bank Ltd Archives

Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi’s Maltese translation, from French, of a hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was sung during a pilgrimage on May 24, 1910. Courtesy: APS Bank Ltd Archives

Very probably, the most popular works he produced were his historical novels. Most of them were rather short, and mainly had his native Qormi as a background. Some of them relate to the 1565 Great Siege by the Turks, while others are based on the brief French occupation of Malta (1798-1800).

His longest – and reckoned to be his best – novel was Nazju Ellul – Ġrajja ta’ Malta fi Żmien il-Franċiżi (Nazju Ellul – a Tale of Malta in the Times of the French [Occupation]). The 335-page book published in 1909 was translated into Italian by V. Frendo Azzopardi in 1928 and, as has been the case with all his other novels, republished a number of times, undoubtedly a tribute to their popularity.

In Maltese journalism, Muscat Azzopardi was not just a contributor to various newspapers but was also the editor of In-Naħla Maltija, Id-Dawl, Is-Salib and Il-Ħabib.

The emblem of the Unione Cattolica San Giuseppe. Courtesy: Aps Bank Ltd

His philanthropic contribution is probably best exemplified in his continued participation in the Unione Cattolica San Giuseppe, founder of the present APS Bank Ltd, of which he was a founder-member when it was set up in 1910 by the Jesuit priest Fr Michael Vella, who passed away in 1912. However, the Unione lived on and Muscat Azzopardi continued with his contribution to its multifaceted charitable and social initiatives, which included: a Mutual Help Society; the formation of Casse di Risparmio (Savings Chests) for workers; the formation of a cooperative; opening of evening classes for prospective migrants; a club for members, including a theatre hall; a periodical newspaper in Maltese; and a printing press.

The newspaper, named Il-Ħabib, was launched on February 1, 1912, and was the first of 663 issues that spanned the years till 1928. Its initial director was Muscat Azzopardi who, however, resigned the editorship in April 1916 due to differences of opinions regarding editorial policy. He eventually represented the periodical at the meetings of the 1919 National Assembly and was chosen to represent the press in the Assembly’s sub-committee of 15 members, which was set up to draw up a draft constitution and negotiate with the new governor on his arrival in Malta. Muscat Azzopardi was at the forefront when arguing for the introduction of the use of Maltese in the future Maltese parliament.

Muscat Azzopardi was much involved in socio-cultural life and, at the relatively young age of 22, he was listed as the secretary of Qormi’s Pinto Band Club. Later on, from 1906 till 1917, he was the club’s president. He was also president of Vittoriosa’s Duke of Edinburgh Band Club in 1901-2.

Sculptor Alfred Camilleri Cauchi working on his seven-foot-high monument of Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi in 1992. The monument was inaugurated at Qormi in 1993. Photo: Joseph F. Grima

He had also been involved in politics, at least since 1890, when he was nominated an unofficial member of the executive council. In 1889, he successfully contested the elections for the council of government and was elected uncontested for the 8th district, which comprised Qormi and its environs, but he did not contest the 1892 elections.

In 1919, he was elected as a councillor representing the 4th district that comprised Vittoriosa, Cospicua, Senglea, Kalkara and Żabbar. He probably chose this district because his wife was Cospicua-born and bred.

On September 2, 1920, Muscat Azzopardi declared in the Malta Herald that he had always supported those literary organisations that fought for the advancement of the Maltese language. The 1843 Academia Filologica Maltese, founded by Canon Paolo Pullicino (1815-90), had promulgated a Maltese alphabet which Muscat Azzopardi supported but which was contested towards the end of the century by the Società Semitica.

These contestations rightly brought to the fore, according to Muscat Azzopardi, the need for the formation of a society of Maltese authors to settle, once and for always, polemics about orthography and alphabet. This led to the formation of L-Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti (Association of Maltese Authors) on November 14, 1920, and, in 1925, to the publication of the first issue of Il-Malti. Muscat Azzopardi was the association’s first president and remained at its helm till his death in 1927.

The cover of Joseph Cassar Pullicino’s publication of a number of researched studies on the life and work of Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi. The photograph shows Muscat Azzopardi wearing his two decorations awarded by Pope St Pius X.

In 1993, rather belatedly, a monument to Muscat Azzopardi was installed in Qormi – appropriately enough in Misraħ il-Kittieba (Authors’ Square) – through a joint effort by the two Qormi parishes. It is the work of sculptor Alfred Camilleri Cauchi and was inaugurated by then president of Malta Vincent Tabone on May 23.

He is also commemorated on appropriate marble plaques on the façades of the house where he was born in St Bartholomew Street, and where he lived for a time in Main Street.

Perhaps it is fitting to end this short, albeit incomplete, contribution on Muscat Azzopardi’s sterling work by mentioning that he was twice honoured, for his writings and religious activities, by Pope St Pius X: the first time by being decreed Pro Ecclesia et Pontefice (a decoration of the Holy See) and, later, by being given the Bene Merenti medal, which is awarded to members of the clergy and laity for services to the Catholic Church.