Guzè Cassar Pullicino, Malta's pioneer folklorist, writer and librarian, was commemorated by the University of Malta yesterday when it named a building in his honour.

The building, Binja Guzé Cassar Pullicino, is the former MUS building.

University Rector Juanito Camilleri stated that Mr Cassar Pullicino's stature was doubly significant at the university. Apart from his work as a university librarian, he was a promoter of Maltese folklore and a researcher of note.

Mr Cassar Pullicino who died in 2005, was born in Birkirkara on September 21, 1921.

He was council member of Ghaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti; secretary of the Xirka ghat-Tixrid ta' l-Ilsien Malti and a very active member of Ghaqda tal-Malti (at university) as well as assistant director of Lehen il-Malti.

He was also editor of Maltese Folklore Review, editor of Melita Historica, and honorary president of Ghaqda tal-Folklor from its foundation in 1964.

He was university librarian from 1953 until 1958. He laid the foundations of the library's Melitensia Collection which has long become one of the best collections in this field.

For many years Mr Cassar Pullicino was a lecturer within the Department of Maltese teaching Maltese folklore, literary and social history.

He was behind the publication of scholarly Maltese linguistic and literary works and promoted manuscripts that may otherwise have never been published.

Mr Cassar Pullicino's main academic contribution is in the field of folklore. He became a member of London's Folklore Society in 1946.

In 1976, he published the seminal Studies In Maltese Folklore.

In 1981, he co-authored with Michelin Galley Femmes De Malte Dans Les Chants Traditionnels and, in 1989, he published Studi Di Tradizioni Popolari Maltesi, for which he compared texts reflecting the Maltese popular mentality to similar texts from other Mediterranean areas.

He was honoured with various awards. In 1970, he received the Silver Medal for Merit from the Confederation of Civic Councils and, in 1979, was awarded the Malta Literary Award. He was the first Maltese to be elected Associate of the Library Association of London.

An MPhil (Honoris Causa) from the University of Malta, Guzè Cassar Pullicino was awarded the Medalja ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika in 1993.

His portrait hangs in the Library Conference Room at the University of Malta at Tal-Qroqq.