COMPANION

JOHN RIZZO NAUDI K.O.M.

A Professor of Medicine, Chancellor of the University of Malta and a politician. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for the Care of the Elderly in 1987 when for the first time the sector was formally included in a Ministerial portfolio. During his term he managed to transform the concept of the care for the elderly into reality. His many initiatives included the setting up of the Institute of Gerontology at the University, the first Geriatric Rehabilitation Hospital - Zammit Clapp Hospital - and the UN Institute for the Ageing. As Parliamentary Secretary for Health between 1992 and 1995 he reformed and modernised the professional training and preparation of nurses and paramedics. Among other things, he was instrumental in setting up the Pre-Vocational School for Health Care Personnel and he co-founded the Institute of Health Care. Apart from his voluntary work in Malta and Africa he is also the author of a number of publications.

A respected family doctor by profession and a politician. In different stages of his public life he served his country as acting President of the Republic, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minister of Education and the Environment, and Ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John. During his tenure as Minister in the nineteen eightees he was instrumental in promoting the concept of a ‘holistic environment’. An active member of the Council of Europe he was also Vice President of the European Assembly. More recently he applied his medical experience in a humanitarian aid project in Albania.

A German inventor and international businessman and a genuine friend of Malta. He has constantly promoted Malta’s name abroad, also because three of the production sites of the global ProMinent Group of Companies of which he is founder and head are based in Malta from where its products are exported to over forty countries. His energy, inventiveness and exceptional strategic vision still characterise the Group, which owes its success to the ProMinent solenoid membrane metering pump which he developed in 1968 and which gave its name to his Group. A highly respected personality, also as a sponsor of the arts, he is the holder of numerous honours, including ones from Heidelberg University where he is also Professor, and from Dalian Technical University in China.

An exemplary trade unionist with twenty-three years’ service with the Union Haddiema Maghqudin wherein he served as Secretary of the Departmental and the Parastatal Sections of the Union. He was also his union’s delegate to the General Conference and a Council Member and Assistant Secretary General of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions. As shop steward of the UÓM University Group he worked assiduously to improve the conditions of work of the non-academic staff which he also represented on the Council of the University of Malta where, among other work, he also carried out the duties of Deputy Registrar.

Active in trade unionism with the General Workers’ Union since 1956. He was elected Deputy General Secretary of the General Workers’ Union in 1985, and in 1996 assumed the responsibilities of Secretary General until he reached retiring age. His long career in trade unionism included active involvement in the affairs of the European Trade Union Confederation, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Labour Organisation, on whose Governing Body he was the first and only Maltese Trade Unionist to be elected.

Provincial of the Dominican Friars in Malta as well as the Founder and Director of the Kerygma Movement. For sixteen years he has organised the National Campaign ‘Solidarity through Sport’ in which hundreds of youths and helpers participate in the annual volleyball marathon. This has become an important occasion in the Maltese calendar that raises substantial funds for deserving institutions in Malta. His dedication to helping those in need does not impinge on his pastoral work, especially among youths, where through Kerygma’s activities, he succeeds in preaching by example. He is the Editor of the movement’s periodical L-Impenn Kristjan and of a number of other publications.

His outstanding career as a banker was rooted in his work for Barclays Bank, of which he became the first Maltese national to assume operations in Malta and later Chairman of the Malta Board. He was the Founder and President for 12 years of the Malta Centre of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. He held a number of prestigious positions in other areas, including founder director of the Malta Development Corporation, President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Vice-Chairman of Simonds Farsons Cisk and Deputy Chairman of the Malta Stock Exchange. Active for thirty-six years with the MMDNA of which he is Vice-President, he was also involved for twenty years in the reform of the administration of the Church in Malta.

The leader of a team forming the Cardio-Thoracic Surgical Unit which set up the local service in Malta in 1995 and which has since successfully performed over 3000 heart and lung operations. The development opened a fresh chapter in Maltese medical history. His internationally acknowledged professional pre-eminence has resulted in Maltese patients no longer having to pass through the trauma of undergoing a by-pass operation abroad. His selfless dedication, gentle bedside manner and meticulous post-operative follow-through of each individual case have earned him the profound gratitude of all his patients and their families and the respect of his colleagues.

The Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Corinthia Group of Companies which has grown into Malta’s first global organisation, having acquired a number of prestigious hotels in various countries. His significant contribution to the well-being of Tourism in Malta is characterised by his constant and uncompromising drive to improve quality and raise standards in the industry. He has amply demonstrated his outstanding capabilities as an entrepreneur and as a corporate leader and, despite endless difficulties and the limitations associated with a small country, has shown that it is possible for a Maltese company to succeed on an international plane.

One of three Maltese artists who, in the immediate post-war years, recreated the foundations upon which Maltese Art was to rise again in closer consonance with European sensibility. Following his war-interrupted formal artistic training in Malta, he studied at the Kennington College of Art. On his return to Malta in 1950 he became a key figure in a fresh, novel and sometimes daring symbolic artistic expression at a time when Malta was seeking its own national identity. His work reflects the openness of his personality to new challenges. It is eclectic in expression, ranging from cubism and impressionism to a later unique experimentation with contours.

A committed career public officer whose contribution to Agriculture during the course of his thirty-one years in Government Service is acknowledged as being second to none and continues to leave its mark even in Malta’s run up to accession to the European Union. Visible examples of the important ventures in the sector to which he devoted his energy are the centralisation of the Pitkali Markets at Ta’ Qali, the building of a new Abattoir, the restructuring of the Department of Fisheries, the eradication of Brucellosis and Tuberculosis from animals, the setting up of the Plant Biotechnology Centre and the opening of the National Aquaculture Centre. Abroad, he was elected Vice-President of the FAO’s European Commission of Agriculture on which he served for six years. His dedicated efforts are an inspiration to all.

A family man and a Police Constable who lost his life tragically in the course of his duties in the branch of the Bank of Valletta at Ta’ Farzina in Qormi where he was brutally murdered during a hold-up. He paid the highest price possible when he showed outstanding courage in successfully protecting the lives of those who were caught in the hold-up. His family and all who knew him will retain forever the fondest memories of a good, loving and jovial person of character with a strong sense of duty. The Police Force will always be inspired by the example of one of its members who gave the highest possible service to the community and to his country.

A historical researcher and student of the prehistory of Gozo whose interests extend to archaeology, ornithology and Melitensia in general. He was instrumental in discovering a number of archaeological sites in Gozo including an unrifled Bronze Age silo pit on what is known as Nuffara Hill, a Temple Period Hut at Ghajnsielem and a series of Xemxija-type tombs on the cliffs between Marsalforn and Ramla. His most notable contribution was undoubtedly the relocation of the Gozo Stone Circle, also known as the Brockdorff Circle, in the vicinity of Xagóra the town of his birth.

A public officer totally dedicated to his job as manager of the radiotherapy services at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital where he carries out his work with efficiency, competence and compassion. He was the first Maltese radiographer to join the Health Department in 1975, since when he has kept abreast admirably with the fast-changing technology in his sector. A valued and indispensable member of the radiotherapy department, he is praised by his patients and their relatives for his gentle manners.

A dramatic soprano of particular talent and ability who selflessly chose to cut short her international career to look after her ailing aged parents. She started her musical training at the age of five and acquired proficiency in both singing and piano. She studied singing under maestros of international standing. At different stages of her short international career she was under contract with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and with the Seattle Opera and played the leading roles in various operas during a successful recital tour of the United States in 1968. She gave numerous recitals and concerts in Malta and abroad. After withdrawing from the international scene she continued to contribute locally as an opera singer and by coaching young singers.

A Sister of Charity who, having spent long years giving outstanding service in a Government hospital, continued doing so in a Church home for the elderly after she retired from the public service. Her dedicated work at St Luke’s Hospital, and later at Ta’ Sawra Institute and at Casa Leone XIII, was characterised by the order, discipline and cleanliness in which she managed her ward and by the charitable and Christian attitude she showed in her caring work. Her understanding and warm character earned her the gratitude and respect of her patients and staff.

An expert ship model-maker and restorer who has enhanced the study, appreciation and conservation of Malta’s rich maritime patrimony and history. His particular expertise lies in the period of the Order of St John, in the development over the ages of traditional Maltese small sea craft and in the technology of wooden sailing ships and iconography, in which areas he has carried out extensive archival research. His restoration of a large 18^th century ship-of-the-line permanently displayed at the Maritime Museum at Vittoriosa is but one of his outstanding achievements.

A leading auctioneer and antique dealer by profession, he was in his youth a well-known sportsman in Malta, having been voted Sportsman of the Year in 1980. He inherited his swimming prowess from his legendary grandfather and his water-treading exploits were unique. He was in fact the first Maltese to be mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records for his unusual feats. His involvement in local councils was marked by his election in 1994 as Mayor of his home town, Gúira. He is active in voluntary work with charitable institutions.

An accomplished actor with a natural talent for comic parts whose popularity with the Maltese public is unquestioned, his experience goes back to his first stage appearance at the age of 15. He appeared in numerous local productions on the stage and on television for such respected theatrical companies as Maleth, the Atturi Theatre Group and MADC. Comic productions which remain in the Maltese public’s memory include "F’Bahar Wiehed", "Nhar it-Tieg" and "Inkwiet". He worked with a number of foreign film and TV companies. He also gained widespread popularity among the Maltese Community in Australia whom he visited in 1982. He materially helps the missions in Guatemala whenever he can.

MIDALJA GHALL- QADI TAR-REPUBBLIKA
on an honorary basis

A pioneer in nursing and midwifery education in Malta. During her period with the Institute of Health Care of the University of Malta, she gave singular and outstanding contributions in the implementation of modern curricula in nursery and midwifery at Certificate and Diploma level and in establishing the first Honours Degree and Masters courses in Malta in the subjects. She was moreover a committed and constant campaigner in favour of Nursing as a profession. She was also instrumental in attracting and recruiting nursing and midwifery students during a critical nursing shortage in Malta.​