Orator and Historian

Born in Senglea and named Gregory Hubert, son of Giuseppe Fiorini and Maria Stella née Marino, Fiorini embraced the Franciscan Conventual Order, assuming the name of Bonaventure, at the age of 17. On 19 July 1924 he was ordained priest and was eventually placed in charge of Franciscan seminaries, in Rome, Assisi, Brescia, and Florence, as vice-rector or rector.

Fiorini, the first chaplain of the Italian community in Malta, was repeatedly decorated by the Italian government for his services.

Fiorini became very well known for his scholarly orations in Maltese or Italian. He preached all over Malta and Gozo and in Italy.

For some years, Fiorini was the general editor of the Melita Historica. He published a good number of works mainly referring to the Franciscan Order in Malta and in Italy. His best-known are a short history of the Franciscan Conventual province, monographs about the friaries and churches of Rabat, Valletta, St Paul’s Bay, and Victoria Gozo, and short biographies of well-known Franciscans.

Fiorini died at the Christus Sacerdos Clergy Home in Birkirkara.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.