Frans Sammut

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Frans Sammut shows his translation of Vassalli's collection of Maltese proverbs (December 2006).

Frans Sammut (born November 19, 1945 in Ħaż-Żebbuġ , Malta ; † May 4, 2011 there ) was a Maltese writer and essayist.

biography

Frans Sammut around 2010

Frans Sammut graduated from Żebbuġ Elementary School, and then St Aloysius' College, St Michael's Teacher Training College, the University of Malta (BA, S.Th.Dip., M.Ed.) and finally the University of Perugia for Foreigners .

Although he was a cultural advisor to the Prime Minister of Malta from 1996 to 1998, he retired as a high school director.

Frans Sammut received its first official recognition in the late 1960s when he co-founded the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju (Movement of Literary Revival). He then held the position of secretary of the Akkademja tal-Malti (Academy of the Maltese Language).

In 2010 he was made a Fellow of the International Napoleonic Society.

He was married to Catherine Cachia, with whom he has two sons, Mark and Jean-Pierre.

Works

He has published numerous works, including the bestseller Il-Gaġġa ( The Cage ) from 1971, which formed the basis for Mario Philip Azzopardi's film from the same year. With Samuraj he won the Rothmans Prize, and Paceville , for which he received the Government Medal for Literature. One of the bestsellers is Il-Ħolma Maltija ( The Maltese Dream ), about which the literary critic Norbert Ellul-Vincenti wrote: “Maltese literature has never reached such a peak.” The dramaturge Alfred Sant (Prime Minister of Malta from 1996 to 1998 ) considered this novel to be Sammut's masterpiece, and English writer Marjorie Boulton has called it a “monumental work”.

He has also published collections of short stories : Labirint ( Labyrinth ), Newbiet ( Seasons ) and Ħrejjef Żminijietna ( Fairy Tales of Our Time ).

His essayistic work includes: Ir-Rivoluzzjoni Franċiża: il-Ġrajja u t-Tifsira ( The French Revolution: History and Significance ), Bonaparti f'Malta ( Bonaparte in Malta ), translated into French in 2008 under the title Bonaparte à Malte , and On The Da Vinci Code (2006), a bilingual commentary (English and Maltese) on the international bestseller. He is also the editor of the Lexicon of Mikiel Anton Vassalli († 1829), the father of the Maltese language. In 2006 he published the Maltese translation of the Maltese sayings, aphorisms and proverbs by Vassalli ( Motti, Aforismi e Proverbii Maltesi ). In 2007, the translation La Malta Revo of his Il-Ħolma Maltija represented Maltese literature in the book series of Classics in Esperanto, published by Mondial Books, New York. In 2008, the fifth edition of Il-Ga ina was published. In 2009 Sammut published his groundbreaking interpretation of the cantilena by Pietro Caxaro Xidew il-qada (also known as Il-Kantilena ), the oldest written document in Maltese.

Sammut has translated important plays into Maltese: the Phèdre by Racine ( Fedra , 1978) and Nachtasyl by Maxim Gorki , both of whom worked at the Manoel Theater in Valletta , under the direction of the poet Mario Azzopardi .

Fedra , 1978.
The young Frans Sammut, around 1970

Former rector of the University of Malta, philosophy professor and eminent Maltese intellectual Peter Serracino Inglott wrote about Frans Sammut:

“Sammut's genius was his Voltairian ability to transform historical characters into a kind of ironically exaggerated carnival mask bearer. The reader is thereby led to look directly in the face of people who are normally treated with absolute deference, as if they were their accomplices. He gains a divertissement by laughing at their doubts, their awkwardness, and their change of mind. The stylistic leap from historical narrative to fiction is possibly the greatest challenge every translator has to face. "

last words

Frans Sammut's final words were, “My wife and I should have gone to Jerusalem, but it seems the program has been changed. Now I am on the way to the heavenly Jerusalem. "

National Prize

In May 2014, the Maltese Ministry of Education donated the Frans Sammut National Prize for the use of the Maltese language.

Works

  • 1968: Labirint u Stejjer Oħra [ Labyrinth and other stories ] (stories)
  • 1971: Il-Gaġġa [ The Cage ] 5th edition (novel). Mario Philip Azzopardi then made the film Gaġġa [ Cage ] in 1971
  • 1972: Logħba Bejn Erbgħa [ A game for four ] (longer story)
  • 1975: Samuraj [ Samurai ] 3rd edition (novel)
  • 1977: Kristu fil-Poeżija Maltija 1913-1973 [ Christ in Maltese Poetry 1913-1973 ] (never published doctoral thesis, University of Malta)
  • 1978: Fedra [translation of the Phèdre by Racine]
  • 1979: Il-Qtil fi Sqaq il-Ħorr [ Murder in the alley of the honest ] (longer narration)
  • 1980: Il-Proċess Vassalli [ The Vassalli Trial ] (play)
  • 1982: Il-Mixja tal-Ħaddiem lejn il-Ħelsien [ The Worker's Path to Freedom ] (Political Analysis)
  • 1989: Ir-Rivoluzzjoni Franċiża: il-Ġrajja u t-Tifsira [ The French Revolution: History and Significance ] (historiographical work)
  • 1991: Paceville (novel)
  • 1992: Letteratura ( literature ) (literary criticism)
  • 1993: Il-Ħakma ta 'Monroj [ The Dominance of Monroy ] (folk opera, libretto)
  • 1994, 2012: Il-Ħolma Maltija [ The Maltese Dream ] (novel), translated into Esperanto as La Malta Revo , published in New York, 2007
  • 1994: Mannarinu! (Folk opera, libretto)
  • 1995: L-Atti tal-Appostli [The Acts of the Apostles] (folk opera, libretto)
  • 1997: Bonaparti f'Malta [ Bonaparte in Malta ] (historiographical work) 1998, translated into French as Bonaparte à Malte , 2008
  • 1998: Newbiet [ Seasons ] ( short stories) (Images: Giovanni Caselli)
  • 2000: Ħrejjef Żminijietna [ fairy tales of our time ] (stories, illustrations: Giovanni Caselli)
  • 2001: Dun Ġorġ: Il-Bniedem tal-Poplu [ Father Giorgio: The Man of the People ] (hagiographic)
  • 2001: Ġrajjet Ħaż-Żebbuġ [ The story of Ħaż-Żebbuġs ] (historical) (translation of the original by Father Salvatore Ciappara)
  • 2002: Lexicon (by Michelantonio Vassalli )
  • 2003: Għala Le għall-UE [ Why No to the EU ] (political analysis)
  • 2004: Ħarsa mill-qrib lejn ħajjet San Filep u l-Kult tiegħu [ A close look at the life of St. Philip and his cult ] (historical and hagiographical) 2004
  • 2004: Ġrajjet it-Tagħlim f'Malta, Vol. 1 2004
  • 2006: On The Da Vinci Code / Dwar The Da Vinci Code [ On the “Da Vinci Code” ] (literary criticism)
  • 2006: Għajdun il-Għaqal, Kliem il-Għerf u Qwiel Maltin [ Maltese sayings, aphorisms and proverbs ] (translation from the Latin original by Michelantonio Vassalli)
  • 2006 (2015): I Giovanniti: La Storia dei Cavalieri di Malta [History of the Knights of Malta] Bonfirraro Editore, Italy
  • 2008: Alfred Sant: Il-Viżjoni għall-Bidla [ Alfred Sant: The vision for change ] (political analysis)
  • 2009: Introduction to the Piccolo Dizionario [ Small Dictionary ] by Baron Vincenzo Azopardi, in which he explains his interpretation of the cantilena of Pietro Caxaro (literary criticism, linguistics)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Elaine Attard: Frans Sammut passes away. In: The Malta Independent. May 5, 2011, archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; accessed on May 5, 2011 (English, obituary).
  2. ↑ Le Petit Futé. 9th edition, Paris 2009-2010, p. 70.
  3. ^ Eighth International Napoleonic Congress. Napoleonic Society, July 16, 2010, accessed January 23, 2020 .
  4. ^ Sandra Aquilina: Portrait of the artist. In: The Malta Independent. March 12, 2007, accessed May 15, 2011 .
  5. ^ Norbert Ellul Vincenti: Vassalli's Maltese Dream . In: The Sunday Times . (Malta). May 11, 1994, p. 20 .
  6. ^ Alfred Sant : Frans Sammut: A Man of Courage. maltastar.com, May 4, 2001; archived from the original on January 11, 2012 ; accessed on May 15, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Maltese works in Esperanto. In: The Malta Independent. September 2, 2007, accessed May 15, 2011 .
  8. ^ New interpretation to oldest written document in Maltese. on: maltamediaonline.com . May 15, 2011.
  9. ↑ Azzopardi, Mario: In Memoriam: Frans tal-Gagga u Gerusalemm l-ohra. In: In-Nazzjon. June 14, 2011.
  10. ↑ Serracino Inglott, Peter (May 15, 2011.). "Inheritance of icons" , The Sunday Times (Malta). May 25, 2011.
  11. ↑ Mark Sammut: Frans Sammut. In: The Sunday Times of Malta. May 25, 2011, accessed January 23, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Il-Premju Frans Sammut. (PDF; 2.8 MB) Ministry of Education of Malta, 2014, accessed on January 23, 2020 (Maltese).
  13. ↑ Joseph Brincart: The Maltese dream, gemäß to Vassalli. In: The Sunday Times of Malta. May 26, 2013, p. 42 , archived from the original on September 6, 2013 ; accessed on January 23, 2020 (English).
  14. ↑ Il recupero della memoria: Frans Sammuth, l'uomo e l'autore. October 19, 2015, archived from the original on November 5, 2015 ; accessed on January 23, 2020 (Italian).
  15. ^ Marie Benoît: Interview. In: The Malta Independent Online. March 2, 2008, archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; accessed on January 23, 2020 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Sammut, Frans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Maltese writer (novelist and essayist)
DATE OF BIRTH November 19, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Ħaż-Żebbuġ, Malta
DATE OF DEATH May 4, 2011
Place of death Ħaż-Żebbuġ, Malta