Former prime minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici’s private collection of books and newspapers has recently been donated to the University of Malta Library. Arnold Cassola, who facilitated this donation, gives an overview of the collection, interspersing his narrative with insights into Mifsud Bonnici and highlighting salient moments in Malta’s political history.

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Life reserves quite a lot of surprises.

In the 1980s, the political battle was a harsh one. Tempers flared high, people like Raymond Caruana and Nardu Debono were killed as a result of political folly. Before them, it had been the sad destiny of Karin Grech.

Street clashes had become the order of the day. Żejtun had become the battleground that separated nationalists from labourites, helicopters flew, batons were waved about and tear gas was fired con gusto.

The prime minister of the day, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, was either idolatrised by the party faithful or else abhorred by the followers of the Nationalist Party, who used to call him Dr Zero in a denigratory way.

Personally, mainly through my writings in newspapers, I gave my little contribution to try and rid the country of Mifsud Bonnici’s leadership. We finally succeeded in our quest in 1987 but only through the skin of our teeth.

Fast forward nearly 40 years and here I am writing this article to thank Mifsud Bonnici for his generous donation to the country, consisting in his books and newspaper collection.

I must thank him and the Mifsud Bonnici family for having given me the privilege of viewing his private collection of books and newspapers and for having given me the opportunity to facilitate the donation of all this documentation belonging to a former prime minister of our country to the library of our Alma Mater, where I have been lecturing for the past 34 years.

The oldest documents in his possession, which I have had occasion recently to view, consist in a manuscript copy of the will drawn up by the King of France, Louis XVI, and which was read out on January 21, 1793.

Another old manuscript text is the July 2, 1817 Conto del Reliquario della Santa Colonna di San Paolo, which features a list of expenses incurred for the maintenance of this sacred place.

Various newspaper issues going back to the 1950s and 1960s are part and parcel of the collection. The ideology behind these newspapers is most varied, which goes to show that, in this period, Mifsud Bonnici kept very much abreast of what was being discussed in the country... on all fronts. Various copies of L-iStudent and Is-Sebħ (which he received by post) survive from the 1950s.

In the 1960s, The Bulletin was Malta’s only surviving evening daily. It was published at the Lux Press and was probably one of the few really independent newspapers in Malta. According to Henry Frendo, the newspaper, which started its publications in 1944, “was the last owner-editor newspaper concern in Malta and it had... its own printing press and quarters at Santa Venera”. It closed down in 1984.  

But, apart from independent voices like those of the Bulletin, Mifsud Bonnici was keen to be updated on all that was going on. For example, in 1960, he was a regular reader of the student newspaper Il-Kokka, which he used to receive by post at his Ħamrun address. Although having graduated at our university as a lawyer in 1954, he still did keep abreast of student affairs.

“Mifsud Bonnici was keen to be updated on all that was going on”

The 1960s were characterised by the (in)famous dispute between the state and Church. At that time, Mifsud Bonnici’s allegiance was very clear. He was actively participating on the committees of lay organisations linked to the Catholic Church, such as the Catholic Social Guild or Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara. 

He was to become president of the latter organisation and an editorial board member of its Christian-inspired newspaper, Il-Ħaddiem. Dom Mintoff was certainly not Mifsud Bonnici’s favourite politician at the time.

The copies of Leħen is-Sewwa in his possession testify to Mifsud Bonnici’s ideological belonging at the time. However, this did not prevent him from also updating himself on what, apart from the politico-religious struggle, was going on in the political field. This explains why some issues of the PN official organ of the time, Il-Poplu, form part of the Mifsud Bonnici collection. 

Manwel Dimech’s Bandiera tal-Maltin exists in its entirety... however, only in photocopy. Issues of the newspaper Cospicua, which in 1958 were sent by post to his father, are also in his possession.

His interest in foreign news is also high. So much so that there are various articles taken from Italian newspapers. His favourite Italian newspaper seems to have been Il Tempo, of which quite a number of copies exist.

Also, quite interesting, is the fact that he has various copies of the Australian newspaper The Advocate, dating back to 1960 and published in Melbourne.

The seeds of his political “conversion” must have been sown after 1968, when he had just finished his studies in taxation and industrial law at University College, London and after he had become consultant to the General Workers’ Union a year later.

At the time, the Nationalist government-proposed Industrial Relations Bill foresaw sanctions that could even have lead to the imprisonment for workers on strike. This must have spelt the turning point for Mifsud Bonnici. From that moment onwards, he was on the front line with the GWU and the Labour Party in opposing and fighting the PN-sponsored bill.

From this point onwards, his interest in workers’ rights got him closer to the MLP. The pamphlets issued by the Għaqda Żgħażagħ Soċjalisti became a staple part of his collection as did many other publications related to industrial law, workers’ participation and what not.

It seems that Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici had a keen interest in languages. The rare 1907 edition of Manwel Dimech’s Il Chelliem tal erbat ilsna (French, English, Italian and Maltese), as well as Il Chelliem Inglis, which contains a rare photo of Manwel Dimech’s tomb in Sidi Bishr Xatbi, Egypt, are testimony to his linguistic interest. 

In particular, he must have had a strong interest in the French language. He used to study the language by radio on Rediffusion every Monday and Thursday and the hard copies of all the lessons transmitted still survive in his collection.

His manuscript copybook, entitled Notes on Constitutional History, is either a remnant of his university notes as a law student or else it could actually consist in notes which he jotted down for the lectures he delivered at the university in the law course. He was also a subscriber to Il Monitore Giuridico del Lavoro, which he received from Italy every 15 days. Such a journal was necessary for him to keep abreast of developments in his field of specialisation.

Apart from the many books on law and even on industrial relations, which were all related to his legal formation and subsequent legal career, there are a number of books on pharmacy and medicine, which were part of his sister,  Ċettina’s textbooks at the university.

His interest in literature is also evidenced by the substantial number of literary masterpieces in his possession. He seems to have been quite fascinated by classical Italian authors, such as Tasso, Alfieri, Petrarca and Dante. But even a late 19th-century female author, such as Matilde Serao, forms part of his collection.

Apart from a few literary works in English, some works of Maltese authors are also in his possession. For example, apart from a signed typewritten collection of poems by Oliver Friggieri, Ġorġ Pisani’s classical work Il Waltz tad-Dellijiet sticks out. An ode to the prowess and bounty of Mifsud Bonnici, written by Gozitan Labour candidate Kelinu Vella Haber, and embossed on simil-parchment paper, was presented to him by a group of Labour Party supporters on November 8, 1986, on the occasion of his visit to Chambray, in Gozo. 

Old books of Maltese interest forming part of the Mifsud Bonnici collection include the publication containing all the documents of  the first Maltese parliament, which were collated together in a volume entitled L’Assemblea Nazionale di Malta (February 26, 1919-May 27, 1921) and the Ordinance nr. VII of 1868, which was published in book form after the end of the legislature. 

Another important book which is very relevant to Maltese political history is an undated book in Maltese, unfortunately without its original cover, which is basically a detailed account of the life of Lord Gerald Strickland. This book originally probably belonged to Stella Borg of 90, Merino Street, Lija, since her name is written on the prefatory page. The author of this book was the former minister of works, Edwin P. Vassallo.

Two other books are of a certain interest also because of the neat handwritten dedication to Mifsud Bonnici by the author, Giuseppe Borg Pantalleresco. The two dediche are written in Italian and are to be found respectively in the book entitled Palpiti, Dmugħ u Tbissim, which was published at Lux Press in 1957, and the other book entitled, Għex, Mhux bil-Ħobs Biss, again published at Lux Press in 1953, with the dedication by the author, dated “16 aprile 1960, vigilia di Pasqua” (Easter eve).

Another interesting item in the collection is a copy of the seating plan of the Radio City Opera House, in Ħamrun for an event which happened on May 19, 1962, basically three months after the electoral victory of the PN, then led by Ġorġ Borg Olivier. Since he was not yet involved in politics at the time, I believe that the event at the Radio City, which seems to have been fully booked, had nothing to do with politics but might have been linked to Mifsud Bonnici’s role at the Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara. 

Will there be any other interesting books, newspaper articles or any other documentation that will be identified in the corpus of these works? Who knows. 

It will now be up to the capable librarians at the University of Malta, under the direction of the administrative director Kevin J. Ellul, to sift through this material.

Personally, I am convinced that the study of the documentation and books in his possession would definitely help the researcher to come up with a fair assessment of one of Malta’s post-Independence prime ministers, popularly or unpopularly, known as KMB to one and all.