Mikiel Anton Vassalli

Who is Mikiel Anton Vassalli?

Mikiel Anton Vassalli was a Maltese linguist, philosopher, and writer born in Ħaż-Żebbuġ in 1764 to a peasant family; he lost his father at the age of two. After studying oriental languages at the Sapienza University in Rome, he devoted his career to standardising and dignifying the Maltese language at a time when Italian and Latin dominated official and educated life on the islands. He produced the first substantial Maltese grammar and a Maltese-Italian-Latin dictionary, and later in life compiled a book of Maltese proverbs, helping preserve the island's oral folk tradition in written form. He became the first Professor of Maltese language at the University of Malta. His progressive, Enlightenment-influenced political views repeatedly put him at odds with the ruling authorities, leading to imprisonment and two periods of exile in Spain and France. Toward the end of his life he worked on the first translation of the New Testament into Maltese, though only the Gospels and Acts were completed and published, posthumously, in 1829. He is remembered today as the father of the Maltese language.

Sources: Wikipedia, 'Mikiel Anton Vassalli' · Frans Ciappara, Mikiel Anton Vassalli (1764-1829): An Enlightened Maltese Reformer · Lovin Malta, 'On This Day In 1764 Mikiel Anton Vassalli Was Born'