Papà

The children were brought up calling him “papà” [father].

He was born in Xewkija, Gozo and baptised in the old church of the village, christened Joseph.

He was the son of Mikiel Zammit and Francesca née Ciantar.

Ġużeppi – as he was always known to all: family, relatives and friends – was born in December 1913, a brother to Mary Jane, Clementa, Nicolina and Toninu.

He was brought up in Xewkija, in a family where only his mother was married. He was treasured by uncles Ġanni, Salvu, Ġużepp, Rev. Fr Pawl and aunt Marjanna.

He very often ran the narrow dark corridor that joined his family’s large house to that of his uncles’ remissa where they kept a horse and two large carts, on to Il-Magna tal-Għaġin (a pastry factory) run by the Ta’ Ciantar brothers, on to his aunt Marjanna’s and her brothers’ house.

Ġużeppi Zammit

Father Mikiel

His father, Mikiel – a lean, spectacled man who used to smoke a pipe − was employed with the Elementary School Office as a mentor, with an annual pay of £9.00 and duties at the Xewkija school.

He was one of the first presidents of the Precursor band and Ġużeppi was a member.

Ġużeppi’s mother was fair and clear blue-eyed, smart and always smelling clean. She had some extra pounds but always looked happy.

A job for Ġużeppi

At the age of 14, Mikiel found his son a job with the Magna tad-Dawl, a small power station in Rabat that supplied electricity to the city and some villages in Gozo.

He used to ride a bicycle to work from Xewkija to Rabat – and back home – every day.

The Rocky Vale

Ġużeppi was a smart and venturing young lad. He used to cross over to Malta and practise roller skating in the Rocky Vale rink in St Julian’s, where skaters were mainly servicemen.

Marriage and a tragedy

It was in Rabat that Ġużeppi met young Carmela from Ta’ Sannat, in the 1930s. They got married during World War II and had their first two children, Lydia and Joseph.

On October 10, 1942, Lydia was killed; she was hit by shrapnel from one of two German bombs that fell on and exploded in the village, killing 17 other people.

New house

After the war, Ġużeppi’s family moved to Rabat, to a house in Sannat Road, near the place where he worked as engine driver.

There, his family increased by two daughters (another Lydia and Marija) and two other sons (Anton and Giovanni).

Later on in life, he not only gave up hunting but helped in the foundation of the Malta Ornithological Society

Education and more

Ġużeppi always wanted to enrich his intellectual abilities. From adverts on a newspaper he read every day, he contacted foreign entities which helped him – through correspondence – gain a certificate in diesel engineering and proficiency in radio repairing; be certified ‘an honest and trustworthy gentleman’ as a radio deceiver; learn taxidermy from The Northwestern School of Taxidermy of Omaha, Nebraska.

He subscribed for and received the monthly magazines Popular Mechanics and Popular Electronics and he used to buy and read enthusiastically the weekly magazine Everybody’s.

For Cadbury chocolate wrappers he sent to the factory in Birmingham, he was sent the signatures that built up into two quarto volumes of the second edition of The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

Among other special publications he had were John Knox’s The Holy Bible, a Family Doctor, the Webster Universal Dictionary, and Knowledge… and several books on birds.

A leading engineer

Ġużeppi was a qualified diesel engineer. Once he applied for the post of a local supervisor. But, after the interview, he went back home disillusioned. He said that a person who understood little in diesel engineering, but had ‘friends’ in the governing party of the time, took the job.

Ġużeppi was shattered. It was the only chance he had had for a promotion until he retired.

An established hunter and… taxidermist

Ġużeppi loved hunting. In the spring season, he used to take home lots of quails and turtle doves which Carmela would cook into delicious torot [tarts] that all the family cherished.

And he hunted beautiful birds to stuff and add to his collection displayed in a mahogany showcase he held so dear at home.

He was a well-known taxidermist sought by both Gozitans and people from Malta who took their game to him for stuffing into live-look-alike birds.

However, later on in life, he not only gave up hunting but helped in the foundation of the Malta Ornithological Society.

An oil on canvas painting by Harry Alden of Ġużeppi and Carmela in a rare, happy hug.

Unconditional love

Carmela’s love for Ġużeppi was unconditional; she was so proud of him. He loved her as much, too. Yet, they were never seen kissing each other, not even hugging, in front of their children.

They never ever celebrated any birthdays. However, they used to give strina – money to children on New Year’s Day – and Christmas presents.

A tragedy

Both parents were extremely happy when their son, Joe and Lydia obtained good results in their General Certificate of Education exams and were qualified to start teaching.

However, on May 8, 1964 – after a short illness – Lydia passed away. The family was devastated.

Death

Ġużeppi and Carmela saw their children growing up, doing well at school, taking up a satisfactory career and… settling down with jobs, homes and families. And they enjoyed meeting their children’s parents-in-law and their grandchildren.

After various health complications, in April 1994, Ġużeppi passed away; he was 80. His wife, Carmela joined him some 16 months later; she was 73.

A hero to us

Ġużeppi was a ‘hero’ who had done his best all his life to nurture a righteous and happy family … like many, many other fathers.

But, Ġużeppi was special; he was my father.