When we ponder the history of certain famous
buildings, we often marvel at how they have remained standing throughout a
number of centuries. Compared to such architectural attractions, the life of
the average human being is quite short.
Indeed, during
the relatively few years of our earthly existence, there are various milestones
which are often expected – attending a specific school, earning a living as an
employee or as a self-employed person, getting married, having one or more
children, and so on. Many of us will interact with and influence – to a certain
degree – the behaviour of some other people.
Regardless
of all our achievements, a day will come when we will pass away. Following this
unavoidable event, we may have a memorial card printed and distributed to
relatives, friends, and acquaintances. A photo capturing a significant moment
of our life story may be displayed in someone’s home or stored in an album.
Nowadays, it is very likely that countless photos will remain saved on a mobile
phone or on a computer.
The
ordinary mortal may continue to be mentioned here and there by some other
people for a few weeks or months following the funeral. Yet, as the living go
on with the struggles of their daily lives and as the individuals known to a
person that has passed away also die, most people will hardly ever be talked
about any longer or even remembered. Put differently, unless a person manages
to do something quite extraordinary during their lifetime, they will be
virtually forgotten following the passage of a given amount of time after their
death. To make matters worse, key details about a person’s life may no longer
be available when various items pertaining to someone are disposed of or when
no effort is made to preserve them.
Historians as well as genealogists, amongst
others, could easily understand the frustration of trying to answer numerous
questions on the basis of relatively little information. Although some people
may have been particularly close to individuals that eventually gained national
fame for one reason or another, this does not mean that there would be a
considerable amount of information still available about their lives several
years after their death. In the case of those people who never shone in the
limelight like more prominent persons, unearthing biographical details about
them could turn out to be a fairly painstaking process.
As an
example, I would like to mention Mr Albert William Mizzi. The latter was the
son of Dr Angelo and Ms Eleonora Mizzi (nee’ Farrugia). He was born in
Tripoli (Libya) in 1890. One of his brothers was Mr Alfred Mizzi; the man whose
name lives on as a result of the many works carried out by The Alfred Mizzi
Foundation.
Albert
Mizzi became a part of my family history. More specifically, he got married to
Carmela (also known as Carmelina), who was the daughter of Antonio Cuschieri.
My great-grandfather, Pio, was Antonio’s brother. Albert, a legal procurator,
must have known Pio to some degree since he signed the latter’s passport
application form as a character witness in 1924. He did the same thing for
Antonio, his father-in-law, in 1931.
Mizzi was
also fairly active within the Nationalist Party for a number of years. Indeed,
there is a photo bearing the caption “Mizzian invaders of Gozo to break up the
1921 Meeting” whereby Albert Mizzi is standing between Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici
(also known as Il-Gross) and Enrico (also known as Nerik) Mizzi.
Giovanni Cuschieri, son of Antonio and Albert’s brother-in-law, also appears in
the said photo. Furthermore, an article published by The Times of Malta
on the 7th April 1932 stated that “…all the Nationalist leaders are
well known. We know Messrs. Mizzi, Mifsud Bonnici, Adami, Masu Fenech and
Albert Mizzi and all the rest of them.”
Mizzi’s
name also surfaced in association with a couple of newspapers that were in
print for some years prior to the end of the 1930s. One of these papers was
called Mercurius; the editor was Albert’s brother, Alexander, and Albert
was listed as the printer. The other newspaper was entitled Mid-day Views.
Even in this case, Alexander was the editor and Albert was the printer. The
registered address of both newspapers was Mercurius Press, 17, Strada Zaccharia
(Zachary Street), Valletta.
At some
point in time, Mizzi switched his allegiance to the Malta Labour Party. Shortly
after Mizzi passed away in 1951, Dom Mintoff penned an article in The Knight.
He wrote that “Our friend, Mr Albert Mizzi L.P., was an intelligent and
fearless man – a born leader in a country where leadership is denied.”
In view of
all the material featured in this article, it is quite disappointing to note
the myriad difficulties encountered in trying to obtain more detailed
information about various aspects of Mizzi’s life. For instance, how did Mizzi
feel whilst working with Enrico Mizzi? Or what exactly caused Mizzi to move
from the Nationalist to the Malta Labour Party? If doing so is still not always
easy in our times, let alone making such a move many decades ago! Two history
professors were contacted during my research process, but neither one of them
was able to provide any assistance.
This is the
part where the importance of collective memory deserves to be mentioned. The
latter involves the participation of each and every person. More specifically,
it is up to us to document, to collect, and to preserve all those items that
would allow us to weave the tapestry that features as many aspects of one’s
life as possible. By doing so, we would be contributing to the preservation of
the information about a human being long after they have died.
As is often
said, every life represents a unique story. Regardless of the fame or rank
achieved by a person during their earthly existence, each story is valuable.
And as all those stories are preserved, we ensure that no person is ever
forgotten. Furthermore, as the memories associated with the departed are kept
alive, it becomes easier to understand our historical development as
individuals and as a species.
