[Book Review] Godfrey Pirotta : il-politika ta' ħajti by Mario Thomas Vassallo

Abstract

The publication Godfrey Pirotta: Il-Politika ta’ Ħajti, which translates as ‘Godfrey Pirotta: The Politics of My Life’, is written in Maltese, a language derived from late medieval Siculo-Arabic and which evolved through a process of Latinization. Its morphology was significantly influenced by Romance languages, notably Italian, from which it has imported a considerable vocabulary (Aquilina, 1961). It replaced Italian as the official language of the courts in 1943; given that the language is a bit more than a century old, its literature is not yet rich, according to Boissevain (1965). This book is far from being a typical biographical work on Godfrey Pirotta by Mario Thomas Vassallo, a former student of Pirotta, and now Head of the Department of Public Policy of which Pirotta was both a founding member and former head. This is the first extensive research on the political philosophy of Pirotta, a Professor of Government and Policy Studies, who helped pioneer the study of small states and public administration in Malta. He is currently chairperson of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, ambassador, official historian for Malta’s Parliament, and a former promoter of trade unionism and consumer rights. The book is written in the style of an extended interview, which at some stages recalls the Socratic dialogues. [Excerpt]