Frans Sammut was a Maltese novelist and non-fiction writer died from natural causes he was , 66.
(November 19, 1945 – May 4, 2011)
Life
Sammut was born in Zebbug, Malta.[1] He studied at the Zebbug Primary School, St Aloysius' College, St Michael's Teacher Training College, the University of Malta (B.A., S.Th.Dip./Diploma in Sacred Theology, M.Ed.) and Perugia University (Diploma to teach Italian abroad).Frans Sammut in mid-2010
Sammut first gained recognition in the late 1960s, when he co-founded the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju (Literary Revival Movement). Later he served as Secretary of the Akkademja tal-Malti (Maltese Language Academy).Sammut ended his career in education as a Head of School, though from 1996 to 1998 he was Cultural Consultant to the Prime Minister of Malta. He was married to Catherine Cachia and they had two sons, Mark and Jean-Pierre.
Mario Philip Azzopardi's Gagga (1971) was based on Il-Gagga.
Works
Frans Sammut in 1970 circa
He published numerous works, including the best-selling novels Il-Gagga (The Cage), which was the basis of the 1971 film directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi,[2] Samuraj, which won the Rothmans Prize,[1] Paceville, which won the Government's Literary Medal.[1] and Il-Holma Maltija (The Maltese Dream), about which literary critic Norbert Ellul-Vincenti wrote, "there is nothing of its magnitude in Maltese literature."[citation needed] Former Prime Minister and playwright Alfred Sant considered it Sammut's "masterpiece",[3] and British author and poet Marjorie Boulton called it "a colossal work".[4]Sammut also published collections of short stories: Labirint (Labyrinth), Newbiet (Seasons), and Hrejjef Zminijietna (Tales of Our Times).
His non-fiction works include Ir-Rivoluzzjoni Franciza: il-Grajja u t-Tifsira (The French Revolution: History and Meaning), Bonaparti f'Malta (Bonaparte in Malta), of which a French translation, Bonaparte à Malte, was published in 2008, and On The Da Vinci Code (2006), a bilingual (English and Maltese) commentary on the international bestseller. He also edited Mikiel Anton Vassalli's Lexicon. Vassalli (d. 1829) is considered the Father of the Maltese Language. In 2006, Sammut's translation of Vassalli's Motti, Aforismi e Proverbii Maltesi was published as Ghajdun il-Ghaqal, Kliem il-Gherf u Qwiel Maltin. In 2007, his Il-Holma Maltija in translation (as La Malta Revo) represented Malta in the Esperanto collection of classic literary works published by Mondial Books of New York. In 2008, his Il-Gagga was published for the fifth time. In 2009, Sammut presented a revolutionary reinterpretation of Pietru Caxaro's poem "Xidew il-qada" (also known as "Il Cantilena"), the oldest written document in the Maltese language.[5]
Frans Sammut holding his translation of Vassalli's collection of Maltese proverbs. December, 2006
Former University of Malta Rector, Professor of Philosophy and foremost Maltese intellectual Peter Serracino Inglott said:The genius of Sammut was in his ability as of a Voltairian jester to transform a historical character into a sort of carnivalesque vector of an ironically larger than life mask. The reader is made to enjoy the obverse side of personalities usually regarded with unmitigated solemnity. One smiles like an accomplice in their doubts, slippings and tergiversations. The stylistic shift from historical narrative to fictional is perhaps the biggest challenge to be faced by any kind of translator.[6]
Last Words
Frans Sammut's famous last words were: “My wife and I should be going to Jerusalem, but it seems plans have changed. I am now going to the Heavenly Jerusalem."[7]Serracino Inglott reacted thus to these words: "I realised then that sometimes tears and laughter are interchangeable."[6]
External links
Bibliography
- Labirint u Stejjer Oħra [Labyrinth and Other Stories] (short stories) 1968
- Il-Gaġġa [The Cage] 5 editions (novel) 1971 – made into a film, Gaġġa [Cage], directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi 1971
- Logħba Bejn Erbgħa [A Game Between Four People] (long short story) 1972
- Samuraj [Samurai] 3 editions (novel) 1975
- Kristu fil-Poeżija Maltija 1913-1973 [Christ in Maltese Poetry 1913-1973] (unpublished dissertation, University of Malta) 1977
- Il-Qtil fi Sqaq il-Ħorr [Murder in Honest Alley] (long short story) 1979
- Il-Proċess Vassalli [The Vassalli Trial] (play) 1980
- Il-Mixja tal-Ħaddiem lejn il-Ħelsien [The Worker's March Towards Freedom] (political analysis) 1982
- Ir-Rivoluzzjoni Franċiża: il-Ġrajja u t-Tifsira [The French Revolution: History and Meaning] (history) 1989
- Paceville (novel) 1991
- Letteratura [Literature] (literary criticism) 1992
- Il-Ħolma Maltija [The Maltese Dream] (novel) 1994, translated into Esperanto as La Malta Revo, published in New York, 2007
- Bonaparti f’Malta [Bonaparte in Malta] (history) 1998, translated into French as Bonaparte à Malte, 2008
- Newbiet [Seasons] (short stories) 1998
- Ħrejjef Żminijietna [Tales of Our Times] (short stories) 2000
- Dun Ġorġ: Il-Bniedem tal-Poplu [Father George: a man of the people] (historical and religious theme) 2001
- Ġrajjet Ħaż-Żebbuġ [A History of Haz-Zebbug] (history) (translation of Dun Salv Ciappara's original) 2001
- Lexicon (by Mikiel Anton Vassalli) 2002
- Għala Le għall-UE [Why No to the EU] (political analysis) 2003
- Ħarsa mill-qrib lejn ħajjet San Filep u l-Kult tiegħu [A Close Look at St Philip: His Life and the Devotion Towards Him](historical and religious theme) 2004
- On The Da Vinci Code/Dwar The Da Vinci Code (literary criticism) 2006
- Għajdun il-Għaqal, Kliem il-Għerf u Qwiel Maltin [Maltese Axioms, Aphorisms and Proverbs] (translation of Mikiel Anton Vassalli's original) 2006
- Alfred Sant: Il-Viżjoni għall-Bidla [Alfred Sant: a vision for change] (political analysis) 2008
- Introduction to Baron Vincenzo Azopardi's dictionary in which he analyses Caxaro's "Cantilena" (literary criticism, linguistics) 2009
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