Anton Buttigieg

Infobox President | name=Anton Buttiġieġ|
order=2nd President of the Republic of Malta


term_start=1976
term_end=1981
predecessor=Anthony Mamo
successor=Albert Hyzler (ad interim)
birth_date=birth date|1912|2|19|mf=y
birth_place=Qala, Gozo
death_date=death date and age|1983|5|5|1912|2|19
spouse=(1st) Carmen Bezzina; (2nd) Connie Scicluna
party=Malta Labour Party
languages spoken=Maltese, English, Italian

Anton Buttigieg ( _mt. Anton Buttiġieġ) [IPA: antɔn butigi:g] (19 February 1912 - 5 May 1983) was a Maltese political figure and poet. He served as president of Malta from 1976 until 1981.

Anton Buttigieg was born in Qala, Gozo, on the February 19, 1912, the third child of Salvatore and Concetta (née Falzon). He was educated at the Government Primary School, Qala (1916 - 1922), the Gozo Seminary (1923 - 1927), St Aloysius' College Malta (1928 - 1930) and the University of Malta, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1934 and Doctor of Laws in 1940.

In 1944 he married the late Carmen Bezzina and had three children - John (now Dr. J. Buttigieg B.A., LL.D., M.P) - Rose (now wife of Dr. J. Brincat, B.A. (Lond.), B.Sc. (Econ.) (Lond.), LL.D., M.P.) and Emanuel (now Dr. E. Buttigieg LL.D., a practising lawyer).

In 1953 he married the late Connie Scicluna. The death of his two wives seem to have been the major tragedies of his life and they have been reflected in his poetry. In 1975 he married Margery Patterson.

During the World War II (1942 - 1944) he served in the Police Force as Inspector and thereafter he practised Law. In 1955 he also served as an acting Magistrate. He was the Law reporter and leader writer of the "Times of Malta" from 1946 to 1948 and the Editor of "The Voice of Malta" from 1959 to 1970.

He embarked on a political career and was first elected to the House of Representatives of Malta in the Labour Party interest in 1955. He was re-elected in all subsequent elections and held his seat in Parliament up to the time of his resignation in October 1976. From 1959 to 1961 he was President of the Malta Labour Party and from 1962 to 1976 its Deputy Leader. When the present administration took office in 1971, he served his country as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

He was a delegate to the Malta Constitutional Conferences held in London in 1958 and in 1964. He was also a representative to the Consultative Assembly in the Council of Europe (1967 - 1971), where he was elected Vice-President (1967 - 1968).

In October 1976 he resigned from the House of Representatives and on December 27, 1976 he was elected as the second President of Malta.

Dr. Anton Buttigieg also distinguished himself in the field of literature. During his undergraduate days he was one of the founder members of the University Students "Society for the Maltese Language" (26-1-1931). He was a Member of "L-Akkademja tal-Malti" (Academy of the Maltese Language) (20-3-1938).

His leisure interests were horse racing and gardening.

Dr. Anton Buttigieg was also President of the St. Gaetano Band Club of Ħamrun.

Awards

*In 1971 he won First Prize for Poetry - "Malta Government".
*In 1972 he won the "Ġuzé Muscat Azzopardi" prize for poetry.
*In 1975 the "Circolo Culturale Rhegium Julii" of Reggio Calabria awarded him with a silver plaque for his poetry.
*In 1977 he won the "International Prize of Mediterranean Culture for Poetry" awarded by the "Centro di Cultura Mediterranea" of Palermo.
*In 1979 he was awarded First Prize and a Special Diploma for Poetry in the First Category by the Centro Culturale Artistico Letterario - Città di Brindisi.
*In 1979 he won "First Prize for the first volume of his auto-biography "Toni tal-Baħri" (Toni the Seaman's Son) in the "Malta Literary Award".

Publications

Lyrical poetry

*"Mill-Gallarija ta' Żgħożiti" - From the Balcony of my Youth - 1949
*"Fanali bil-Lejl". - Lamps in the Night - 1949
*"Fl-Arena" - In the Arena - 1970
*"Ballati Maltin". - Maltese Ballads - 1973
*"Il Mare di Malta". - The Sea of Malta-A selection of poems translated into Italian - 1974
*"Il-Għanja tas-Sittin" - The Song of the Sixty Year Old - 1975
*"The Lamplighter". A selection of poems translated into English - 1977. They are also being translated into Slovenian, and into the German.
*"Qabs el Mosbah". A selection of poems translated into Arabic - 1978
*"Poeżiji Miġbura - L-ewwel Volum" - The first two books.
*"From the Balcony of my Youth" and "Lamps in the Night" have been published in one volume under the title "Collected Poems" - 1978.

Humorous poetry

*"Ejjew nidħku ftit" - Let us laugh a little - 1963
*"Ejjew nidħku ftit ieħor" - Let us laugh a little more - 1966

Haikus and tankas

*"Il-Muża bil-Kimono" - The Muse in Kimono. This book was translated both into Japanese and into English - 1968.

His books in preparation

*A collection of speeches and short stories.
*"Żibeg u Boċċi" - (Beads and Marbles). A collection of Haikus and Tankas.
*The first volume "Toni tal-Baħri" - Toni the Seaman's Son was published in 1978.