Mikiel Anton Vassalli

Mikiel Anton Vassalli

Mikiel Anton Vassalli (born March 5, 1764 in Żebbuġ ; † January 12, 1829 in Pietà ) was a Maltese writer, linguist and philosopher. He is considered the founder of Maltese linguistics and wrote the first dictionary of Maltese. During his lifetime there were decisive events in the history of Malta , such as the end of the rule of the Order of Malta , the French occupation of the archipelago and the beginning of British rule.

Life

Origin and early years

Vassalli came from a farming family, his father died when Mikiel was two years old. In 1785 he began to study oriental languages ​​at La Sapienza University in Rome.

Literary activity

Maltese grammar and vocabulary had been explored earlier, but that knowledge had been lost. The first modern grammar of the Maltese Della lingua púnica presentemente usata da Maltesi in Roma was published in 1750 by Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis . In the 1790s, Vassallis became interested in purifying the Maltese language from italicisms and reviving it as the national language . During this time he published three fundamental works on the Maltese language, which established the standard for the spelling, vocabulary and grammar of Maltese that still exists today.

The foreword of his dictionary ( Discorso Preliminare ), which is dedicated to the Maltese nation with the words Alla Nazione Maltese , contains political statements that make it clear that Vassalli's aim was not so much the study of the Maltese language as he pursued educational aims. He wanted the people of the Maltese islands to be educated and able to find themselves as a nation. The Maltese language was an important, if not the most important, tool for him. However, Vassalli was also the first linguist who scientifically researched the Maltese language and uncovered its Semitic roots.

Political activity

Because of his political views, Mikiel Anton Vassalli was expelled from his home country several times. He was suspected of having authored or published the France-friendly text Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur Malte (Paris, 1798), but this has since been assigned to the lawyer Onorato Bres. In this time of turmoil and the overthrow of old orders, Vassalli followed the political developments of his time and took up ideas based on the ideals of freedom and popular sovereignty .

After studying in Italy, Vassalli returned to Malta with the ideas of the French Revolution . There he encountered the disorder of the last few years in the rule of the Order of Malta over the archipelago, which were characterized by financial difficulties, divisions in the leadership of the order and its backwardness. Vassalli sent a petition to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim , in which he suggested that the Order give up all acts of war with Muslims, that the ports of Malta be opened to merchant ships of all nations, and that Maltese people also have a separate branch (a " Tongue ”) so that the inhabitants of Malta would have an equal voice in the Order. These proposals were aimed at improving the financial situation of the Order's country as well as at an equal participation of Maltese in the decisions of the Order.

However, these "proposals from an ambitious young man" were not taken seriously by the superiors of the knightly order. Vassalli was literally urged to ally himself with the Jacobins in the hope of freeing the Maltese islands from the rule of the order. However, his plans were discovered and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He escaped and only returned to his homeland in 1820 after exile in Spain and France. During his second exile in France, he married Catherine Formosa de Freamaux in 1813.

In 1821, now back in Malta, he met John Hookham Frere , a former British diplomat who had retired to the Maltese archipelago. This also supported him financially and enabled him to publish his works.

With the support of John Hookham Frere, Vassalli began teaching at the University of Malta as the first professor of Maltese language and literature.

Vassalli's tombstone in the Msida Garden of Rest

His grave is in the Msida Bastion Garden of Rest in Floriana , a Protestant cemetery established by the British from 1806 onwards , as he was refused a Roman Catholic burial for translating the New Testament into Maltese.

philosophy

From a philosophical point of view, Vassalli saw himself as part of the “Century of Enlightenment”. He shared with the Enlightenmentists of his time the enthusiasm for the education of the common people and the endeavor to shape social and political structures in such a way that they are conducive to equality and solidarity among people. However, his writings show no rejection or even hostility towards the Roman Catholic Church , as was common in France at that time.

During his studies in Rome, Vassalli evidently read the writings of the Enlightenment with great interest. In the foreword to his dictionary, entitled Alla Nazione Maltese (To the Maltese Nation), he published his political ideas of a Maltese society for the first time in 1796, these can also be found in the Discorso Preliminare of the same work. Accordingly, he wanted political and social changes in his country of origin as well. According to the teaching of the Enlightenment, this could only be achieved through comprehensive education of all strata of the people, and in Vassalli's opinion this primarily included the Maltese language and the associated cultural identity of the archipelago.

Although Vassalli was anything but an original thinker - he drew almost all of his considerations from the writings of contemporary French encyclopedists and Enlightenment experts - he is still regarded as one of the most important figures of the Maltese Enlightenment, alongside John Nicholas Muscat .

Commemoration

• His grave is in the Msida Bastion Garden of Rest in Floriana
• A memorial was erected to him in his native Żebbuġ
• The Mikiel Anton Vassalli College in Ħamrun , which has existed since 2018, is named after him

In the literature

• Frans Sammut wrote the novel Il-Ħolma Maltija (The Maltese Dream) as Vassalli's biography. From The Times , the book was described as the best literary work ever written in Maltese. By Marjorie Boulton , he was referred to as a "colossal work" ( "a colossal work"). Sammut argues that Freemasonry played a decisive role in Vassalli's life .
• Ġużè Aquilina's novel Taħt Tliet Saltniet (“Under Three Rulers ”) follows Vassalli's life from the point of view that he experienced the Maltese Islands under the rule of the Order of Malta, the French and under British rule
• Furthermore, the figure of the politician Vassalli is described in poems, such as in Dun Karm Psailas Lil Mikiel Anton Vassalli ("The Mikiel Anton Vassalli") and under the same title by Ġorġ Pisani and Ninu Cremona . Rużar Briffa mentions Vassalli in his poem Jum ir-Rebħ (“Victory Day”).

In music

• The Maltese singer-songwriter Manwel Mifsud paid tribute to him with his song Vassalli .
• A Maltese rock opera with music by Paul Abela and texts by Raymond Mahoney, entitled Bastilja ( Bastille ), refers to the effects of the French Revolution on the Maltese islands in Vassalli's time. Mikiel Anton Vassalli is one of the main characters.

Publications

Title page of the Maltese dictionary

• Tria monumenta lapidea sepulcralia kufico-arabico-sicula, characteribus kufico-arabicis utrinque insculpta, Panormi ... inventa ... in hodiernum characterem arabic ...
• L-Alfabett Malti (1790), Lill-Malti li qiegħed jaqra
• Ktŷb yl klŷm Mâlti 'mfysser byl-Latîn u byt-Taljân (1796) - a Maltese-Latin-Italian dictionary
• Mylsen phoenico-punicum, sive Grammatica melitensis (1791) - a grammar of Maltese in Latin
• Motti, aforismi e proverbii maltesi, raccolti, interpretati e di note esplicative e filologiche corredati.

literature

• Frans Ciappara: Mikiel Anton Vassalli (1764-1829). To Enlightened Maltese Reformer . Midsea Books, Malta 2014 (English).

Individual evidence

1. ^ David R. Marshall: History of the Maltese language in local education. 1971, p. 128
2. ^ Robert Thake: Un Républicain Maltais à Paris. In: Treasures of Malta , Volume XXI, No. 2 (Easter 2015).
3. ^ Paul Cassar: John Hookham Frere in Malta (1821-1846). A Link with our Social and Cultural Past . S. 60 f . ( online [PDF]).
4. ↑ Historic Garden, Floriana. In: Heritage Sites managed by Din l-Art Helwa. Dín l-Art Ħelwa , accessed February 7, 2020 (English).