Albert Ganado: Ħajja Mhux tas-Soltu

Autobiography by Albert Ganado

Edited by Austin Sammut and Sergio Grech

Published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2020

The urge to write one’s autobiography seems to overtake everyone sooner or later. In not a few cases this results in pages of self-congratulations or self-justification, giving the impression that one was somehow able to steer a righteous course with a single-minded dedication to truth and honesty.

This is hardly the case with the memoirs of Albert Ganado, who needs no excuse to justify his thankfully long life, a life that has so greatly enriched the cultural heritage of his beloved native island.

Now in his 98th year, and still blessed with a splendid memory and the talent of a born raconteur, he can look back on a life of achievements that have been widely recognised at home and abroad.

Written in a beautiful style that approaches that of his cousin Herbert Ganado’s Rajt Malta Tinbidel, that immortal masterpiece of Maltese prose, Ganado’s memoirs are indeed hard to put down. Those who are put off from reading in Maltese do not know what they are missing.

With both his grandfather and father having served as judges, young Albert’s professional career must have been predetermined, not least because he was the sole male among seven siblings.

He started his legal practice from scratch but quickly obtained a solid reputation for his deep knowledge of the laws and the statutes. He surely would not have dishonoured the family tradition had he been nominated judge himself. Obviously, he lacked the qualifications necessary on our fair isle!

Ganado’s life can best be seen as being divided into two parts: the public and the private. In the former, he played a very active role in the Nationalist Party, an attraction fostered by family links and an innate resistance to British colonial policies.

He was involved with the party from his student days and in 1954 was elected to the national executive. The party was dominated by George Borg Olivier with few members daring to oppose him, but Ganado was never one to shy from speaking his mind, yet always with loyal intentions.

His contribution in opposing the anathema of integration was one of the main features of the London talks; locally he was one of the very few who dared the hostile violent crowd in the only anti-integration meeting the party held (sort of) at Għar id-Dud.

The greatest disagreement concerned Borg Olivier’s approach to Dom Mintoff’s fiery attitudes, especially after the April 1958 riots. Like his cousin Herbert, he expected a stronger denunciation of violence.

Ganado’s decision to end his active political commitments then deprived Malta of probably the finest parliamentarian it never had

Ganado gives a clear account of what led to the Ganados’ expulsion from the PN (Ganado contested his expulsion in court and won his case but he never returned back) and the formation of the Democratic Nationalist Party. His inside account of the travails of the party adds rich details to our political history.

The DNP could never match the organisation of the long-established PN but it attracted a number of young promising candidates. It also had the merit of introducing into local politics the concept of Christian Democracy which the PN would make its own years later.

It elected four members in the 1962 elections and went to play a non-negligible part in the independence talks, but in the 1966 it, like the other two centre parties, fell victim to realpolitik and ended seatless.

Ganado’s decision to end his active political commitments then deprived Malta of probably the finest parliamentarian it never had. On the other hand, the island was to end up infinitely richer as his total commitment to scholarship on all aspects of Melitensia would greatly enrich our culture and its appreciation, a contribution far richer than a host of politicians could ever hope to deliver.

Former University of Malta rector Juanito Camilleri (right) conferring the degree of Doctor of Literature (honoris causa) on Albert Ganado in recognition of his significant contribution through his dedicated study of the history of cartography.

Ganado could turn to his beloved collecting and research, assembling one of the top Melitensia collections in private hands. No mere hoarder for hoarding’s sake, he threw himself wholeheartedly in the study of all matters Maltese.

In his account, he devotes six chapters to his research and collections, proudly listing his unique contributions to each. He speaks lovingly about his collections, communicating that pleasure which collectors feel in their bones when they come upon some important find.

In 1950, Ganado was one of the founding members of the Malta Historical Society and, in 1954, Encyclopaedia Britannica chose him to write the annual update on Malta, which he continued for 50 years.

His contributions to the pictorial art include the teasing out of biographical information about the up till then shadowy Girolamo Gianni as well as Giovanni Schranz and the Schranz family of artists, Antonio Grech, Nikolay Krasnov and Boris Edwards, among others. His interest would find its towering achievement in the publication of An Encyclopaedia of Artists with a Malta Connection with Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez in 2018.

His Melitensia collection includes not only several rare volumes and pictures but also some unique historical records belonging to particular eminent 19th-century jurists, among other treasures.

He also comments on his stamp collection which, like most philatelists, he started in his teens. In 1966, he was a founder member of the Philatelic Society of Malta, which spurred him on to approach the subject in a more professional manner. Again, he lists with pride some of his notable specimens and his contribution to the study of the subject.

But the name of Albert Ganado will forever be firmly linked with his unique collection of maps of Malta which he began in 1953 and which grew and grew and grew. Behind many of his ‘discoveries’, there lie stories to be related with gusto. His book with Maurice Agius Vadalà, on the Great Siege maps, and his study of the maps of Valletta up to 1600 will hardly ever be surpassed.

His expertise has made him the acknowledged worldwide authority on maps of Malta.

In 2008, to safeguard the unity of his unique collection of 450 Malta maps, he agreed to pass it to the state in exchange of the house his family had occupied since 1835. A good deal for Malta since the collection was then valued at about €1,750,000. He also donated many other items to institutions.

Most impressive is the bibliography of Ganado’s books and articles, interviews, talks, activities, dedications and references compiled by Joseph Schirò. Covering a full 39 pages of close text printed in eigth point (a bit of a problem for ageing readers), it attests to Ganado’s extraordinary prolific literary activity.

As the nation doffs its hat to a remarkable personality, we all cannot but wish Albert a sincere Ad multos annos.

Albert Ganado: Ħajja Mhux tas-Soltu is one of the finalists of the National Book Prize for 2021.