https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38729 Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:30:14 GMT 2026-04-17T18:30:14Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25556 Title: La fin de l'emigration Maltais en Algerie : circonstances et causes Authors: Dimech, Pierre Abstract: In this article, Dimech examines the causes and circumstances of Maltese migration and settlement in Algeria in the late nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25556 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25547 Title: Early medical literature in Maltese during the XIX and XX century Authors: Savona-Ventura, Charles Abstract: The first decades of the twentieth century found the Maltese enjoying a very low cultural maturity particularly in health matters. The reasons for this were multifactorial and were partly related to the generally low level of education and limited availability of educational material in the vernacular language. At the turn of the twentieth century, the working class population was reported to be seemingly aware of the value of education and suitable facilities for the pursuit of a comprehensive education had been made available. However because of the overpowering circumstances that the majority of the working class population had to yield to, illiteracy was still much more widely prevalent than supposed. During 1911-12, the average daily attendance in the Government Elementary and Infant Schools amounted to 15,657 students. The average daily attendance in the Secondary Schools and Lyceum amounted to only 616 students while the average daily attendance to University courses amounted to 138 students. The figures suggest that only about 4-5% of children attending primary education completed their studies and progressed to a Secondary level. The Maltese language was taught in the primary classes, but English and Italian reading was only commenced at Standard Ill, when many of the children would have already been withdrawn from the educational system. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25547 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25546 Title: The Falzon family and the capomastro of its house at Mdina Authors: Wettinger, Godfrey Abstract: From before 1300 right down to the seventeenth century, but especially after 1399, the family with the surname Falzon, under several different spellings, always took a prominent part in the municipal affairs of the Malta, although its social position could not compare with that of the principal feudal families long settled in Mdina. In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries it shared power in the small municipal administration of Mdina with the Sordinos, the Caxaros, the Falcas, the Vaccaros and one or two others, although none of these could compare in sheer wealth and power with the greater feudal families, like the Desguanes, the Mazaras, the De Navas, the De Guevaras, and, earlier on, the Gattos. This the Falzons persisted in doing for generation after generation, when other families like the Vagnolu, the D'Alaimo, the Calavas, the Vassallos, even the Sillatos, the De Nasis, and the Sonellos were unable to perform for the same length of time and with the same uniform success. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25546 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25545 Title: Parish clockworks in XIX century Għaxaq Authors: Debono, Sandro Abstract: Time stands still in the small picturesque village of Ghaxaq due to a mechanical problem in its church clock. The belfry which houses it was completed by the latter half of the 1750s, when the construction of the new church to the design of architect Sebastian Saliba (1709 - 1782) was in full swing. The middle years of the eighteenth century bear witness to the construction of two important clocks. The Pinto turret clock at the Grandmaster's Palace was inaugurated earlier in 1745 whilst the still functioning church clock of the Conventual Church of St. John's dates to the late 1760'S. No records revealing the author of the Gliaxaq parish church clock have been traced to date, although technical data points to eighteenth century methodology of construction. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/25545 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z