Professor Godfrey Pirotta is a well known academic among different generations of students, a professor of political science and governance, researcher, historian and writer, Ambassador and social activist, promoter of trade unionism and cooperatives.
He is a person who loves life and loves the people. The story of his life spanning over 70 years is an inspiration to many because it is built on an array of virtues and values that elevate human dignity and solidarity.
His biography has been written by Dr Mario Thomas Vassallo, an academic of the Department of Public Policy, and has now been published by Horizons (Malta).
From a methodological perspective, this work does not rest on a chronological order but is innovatively mapped out across a thematic scheme. The themes originate from the virtues that Pirotta adopted for his life:
- Fear and courage
- His ideological credo
- The need for intellectual independence
- The call for simplicity
- Trust in the people
- Social justice
- His choice in favour of loyalty
- Commitment towards citizen engagement
- His never ending endeavours to find truth and
- Ultimately, his love of life.
In essence, these are the features that characterise Prof. Pirotta’s choices, initiatives and projects to the benefit of the community at large.
This biographical work, entitled Godfrey Pirotta: Il-Politika ta’ Ħajti, is more interested in exploring the dynamics of the protagonist’s frame of mind rather than recount his trajectory from childhood to adulthood. His philosophy and ideology are analysed in the context of his continuous activism in the social and political fields.
What are his ideas of a perfect society? How does he define power? Why did he fall in love with politics? What is love for him and in what ways did he try to understand truth? This new publication by Mario Thomas Vassallo is a work of political philosophy as much as it is biographical literature. The twelve chapters of the book expose the manifest on which Professor Godfrey Pirotta formulated and implemented the politics of his own life.
The book is available from all leading book shops and stationeries in Malta and Gozo, as well as from the website of Horizons.