Daniel Cilia writes:
I was sorry to read on Friday, July 10, in the Times of Malta that Ann (Griffiths) Monsarrat had passed away, aged 83. I had first met Ann in San Lawrenz, Gozo, when I was very young.
My father was an amateur electronics enthusiast and one of the only men in the 1960s who could fix anything electronic in Gozo. Ann’s famous novelist husband Nicholas had some problem with their TV set and called my father for help. Our family eventually became good friends with the Monsarrats.
Ann and Nicholas were art connoisseurs and their home, a converted farmhouse at the very end of the village, was full of many interesting objects which I remember vividly. When Nicholas passed away in 1971, less than a decade since they had moved to Gozo, Ann decided to continue living in Gozo. She became part of the Gozitan community and everyone respected and loved her.
Ann helped many a budding Gozitan artist and I was lucky to be one of them. She was an inspiration for us and since we all came from a small island with little possibilities of making our dreams a reality, she encouraged us to continue learning, experimenting and not to give up on our hopes.
She was also a ‘client’ of mine. When I did my exhibition Ritratti 86 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta and at Ta’ Ċenċ Hotel in Gozo in 1986, she bought several photos for herself and to give as presents to her friends. When I started to have my work published in books, it became a tradition of going to visit her and discuss each book. She was very good at constructive criticism and in those early years of my then professional career, I learnt so much from her. At the beginning of 2000, she introduced me to Dr David Trump and his wife Bridgitte. She intuitively felt that we would become good friends and colleagues. She was correct.
Ann kept on encouraging me to never give up on my dreams and ambitions to produce photographic books about Malta and Gozo and their history, beauty and culture.
When in 2004 I edited the book Malta before History, I had asked her to contribute by writing a chapter about a subject which fascinated her, the prehistoric deity of the Maltese temples. She did a fantastic job with it. Soon after we decided to work on a book about Malta’s recent history, starting from the 1835 Maltese Council of Government, up to Malta’s entry into the EU.
Ann was perfect as an author for this book as she would not be politically influenced by the ‘histories’ of our political parties. Unfortunately, her sickness started to kick in then and she had to give up on the research and writing of the book. Ann would have done a great job with it.
Ann, thank you for everything you gave to your Gozo and Malta without asking for anything in return. I wish that our nation had recognised your neverending contributions. Maybe the Maltese government could consider honouring Ann Monsarrat with Ġieh ir-Repubblika (the National Order of Merit) post-humously.