Normally, the lyrics for a song are the first to see the light of day, followed by the music composed to accompany it. In the case of Malta’s national anthem, the Innu Malti, this procedure was not followed. The music came first, followed by the lyrics.

In 1922, a short melody composed by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Samut (1869-1934) came to the attention of his brother-in-law, the director of elementary schools, Dr Albert V. Laferla, who was hankering after an anthem to be sung by Malta’s schoolchildren. Laferla asked Dun Karm Psaila (1871-1961) to write lyrics that would fit in with Samut’s melody. Dun Karm pointed out that the opposite procedure should have been followed but he complied with Laferla’s request and wrote the desired verses.

Monsignor Dun Karm Psaila.

Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Samut, the composer, in his military uniform.

In December 1922, the hymn was already being sung, mainly in government schools, but it was first performed in public at the Manoel Theatre on December 27, 1922, during a concert held by the Elementary School Teachers’ Dramatic Club and, a few days later, on January 6, 1923, at the same venue. It was received with great enthusiasm.

But these two recitals were not without controversy. Someone, unknown, changed some verses in the first stanzas. Naturally, Dun Karm was not amused – actually he was very angry – and protested by writing an article in a local newspaper. The result was that the original lyrics were restored.

On February 3, 1923, schoolchildren from Sliema sang the hymn with Dun Karm’s original verses at a concert, again at the Manoel Theatre, to music performed by Vittoriosa’s Duke of Edinburgh Band. The Innu Malti was not tampered with again since then.

On February 22, 1941, the Maltese government declared the Innu as the official Maltese anthem. However, since Malta was a British colony, the Innu Malti could not be referred to as the Maltese national anthem but as the “Hymn of Malta”.

In 1936, the King’s Own Band Club of Valletta had commissioned Mro Vincenzo Ciappara (1890-1979) to prepare a full score for the band, and the hymn was played on September 8 of the same year.

The Innu Malti in Maltese and English, a translation by May Butcher.

In 1938, May Butcher (1886-1950) translated it into English and it was published in the Times of Malta. It was subsequently printed in both languages with its accompanying music. Fairly recently, René Micallef (b.1975) wrote a poetic translation.

Someone, unknown, changed some verses in the first stanzas. Naturally, Dun Karm was not amused

For many years, the Innu was played only during Victory Day celebrations on September 8. In 1964, the Independence Constitution confirmed the Innu Malti as Malta’s national anthem and thus established it as one of the symbols of Maltese identity.

During the decades preceding 1964, the Innu became deeply embedded in the hearts of the Maltese, a fact perhaps best exemplified by an incident that occurred in 1945.

On March 25, the Empire Stadium in Gżira was the venue of a football match between the Yugoslav team Hajduk Split and a Malta representative XI. As usual, the match was preceded by the rendering of national anthems. The Yugoslav anthem was correctly followed (according to protocol) by that of Great Britain, because Malta was a colony.

As the governor was about to sit down, the Maltese attending the match stood up and sang the Innu Malti. Although he felt embarrassed, the governor also stood up until the end of the Innu. This incident has been immortalised in a patriotic poem by the well-known Maltese poet Rużar Briffa (1906-63).

On December 6, 2022, the Central Bank of Malta issued two numismatic coins in gold and silver commemorating the centenary of the Innu Malti’s first public performance. Designed by Noel Galea Bason (b.1955), they depict busts of Dun Karm and Robert Samut, together with the first two verses and music of the anthem.

A gold coin, designed by Noel Galea Bason, issued by the Central Bank of Malta, commemorating the first centenary of the Innu Malti, 1922-2022. It depicts Robert Samut and Dun Karm Psaila and verses from the Innu Malti.

Brief pen-portraits of the author and the composer of the Innu Malti would not be amiss and are appropriate.

Robert Samut was born in Floriana on October 17, 1869, to Giuseppe Samut and Marianna née Darmanin. He showed musical inclinations and wished to study music but his father disapproved, so he became a doctor of medicine after studying at the universities of Malta and Edinburgh. He was appointed professor of physiology and bacteriology at the University of Malta and also a specialist of pathology at the Central Civil Hospital in Floriana, now Malta’s police headquarters.

A Maltese postage stamp commemorating Robert Samut.

In 1897, Samut joined the King’s Own Malta Regiment of Militia as lieutenant-surgeon and was subsequently promoted to captain (1900) and major (1909) and, subsequently, to lieutenant-colonel. He helped at Messina, Sicily, after the earthquake of 1908, and was decorated by the Italian government and the Red Cross for his meritorious services. He served with his regiment throughout World War I in Cyprus and was mentioned in various despatches, and received the General Service Medal.

In 1920, he was appointed professor of pathology at the University of Malta. He was asked to carry out an autopsy on a woman who had passed away with a strange illness and, somehow, he himself became infected. This disease was eventually to cause his death on May 26, 1934. He was buried in the Portelli chapel at Santa Marija Addolorata Cemetery, Paola. Samut was also well-known for treating, without remuneration, poor Floriana residents.

It was at Edinburgh that Samut composed some musical notes after realising that Malta did not have an anthem. These notes subsequently became the Maltese national anthem. Fittingly, the Methodist chapel in Floriana was renamed Robert Samut Hall.

Robert Samut Hall, the former Methodist church, at Floriana. It is named thus to honour the composer of the Innu Malti.

Rev. Carmelo Psaila, better known as Dun Karm, son of Filippo Psaila and Annunziata née Pisani, was born in Żebbuġ, Malta, on October 18, 1871. Between 1885 and 1894, Psaila attended the Seminary and read philosophy (1888) and theology (1890) at the University of Malta before being ordained priest in 1894. Between 1895 and 1921, he taught various subjects at the Seminary until he was appointed assistant librarian at the National Library of Malta in 1921 and, subsequently, director of circulating libraries in 1923. Dun Karm retired in 1936.

Dun Karm’s birth place at Żebbuġ.

Dun Karm’s monument at St Anne Street, Floriana, the work of sculptor Toni Ellul.

Dun Karm was a founding member of the Għaqda Kittieba tal-Malti, founded in 1921, from 1927 till 1942, when he was made its honorary president for life. In 1945, the University of Malta awarded him a D.Litt.(Honoris Causa) in recognition of his contribution to Maltese literature and, in 1956, he was decorated with Commander of the British Empire (CBE). In 1957, for his services to Maltese literature, Dun Karm was granted an ex-gratia pension by the Maltese government. Although he was made a monsignor, he remained known as Dun Karm.

Dun Karm at his desk with his favourite companion: his canary.

The “Dun Karm Room” at the Cathedral Museum, Mdina.

Known as Malta’s national poet, Dun Karm was a prolific writer. Till 1912, he wrote only in Italian and published two collections of his verses in 1896 and 1903. In 1912, he wrote his first poem in Maltese, Quddiem Xbieha tal-Madonna, which was published in Il-Ħabib. His poetry, which included such works as Il-Musbieħ tal-Mużew and Il-Jien u lil hinn Minnu, have been published in a number of anthologies.

He is also very well-known for a significant number of religious hymns that are still very popular nowadays and regularly sung in church services.

His writings include the popular novel Żewġ Anġli: Ineż u Emilia, which he translated from an Italian novel by D. Caprile. Apart from a few critical works, between 1947 and 1955, Dun Karm also compiled a dictionary in three volumes: Dizzjunarju Ingliż u Malti.

A Maltese postage stamp commemorating Dun Karm.

Dun Karm passed away on October 13, 1961, a few days short of his 90th birthday, and was buried at the cemetery of the Sacred Heart in Żebbuġ. Monuments to Dun Karm have been erected at Floriana, in his native Żebbuġ and at the premises of the Junior College, Msida.