Ann Agius Ferrante, Malta’s first woman MP elected on the Nationalist Party's ticket died on Thursday. She was 97.

The daughter of a former attorney general, Sir Philip Pullicino, Agius Ferrante was elected on the PN ticket in 1980 in a casual election, following the death of former prime minister Ġorġ Borg Olivier.

Her death was announced on Facebook by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola.

Metsola described Agius Ferrante as trailblazing and formidable, "a powerhouse of integrity and wit".

"The very first thing I did when I was elected as the European Parliament's first vice-president was to write to her. I thanked her for making the path easier, for enduring so that my generation would not have to, and to promise her that I will play my part in making it easier for those who come after me. A grateful Malta will miss her. May she rest in peace," Metsola wrote.

Agius Ferrante had two children, Susan Zammit Tabona and Timothy.

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