Ugo Mifsud Bonnici – a formidable figure - Raymond Mangion

The Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta on Thursday held its eighth Foundation Day Commemoration, conferring its Award for Academic Excellence on President Emeritus of Malta Ugo Mifsud Bonnici. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was born in Bormla (Cospicua) on November 8, 1932. He was the youngest of Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and Maria Ross’s three children. His siblings were Josette, who died at 11 months, and the late and lamented Professor Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici, President Emeritus of the Maltese Courts and Judge Emeritus of the European Court of Human Rights. His father, Carmelo, better known as ‘Il-Gross’ for his Falstaffian figure, is considered in historical documentation and collective memory as one of the leading criminologists in Malta and as one of the most brilliant orators in the halls of the Maltese legislature and law courts. Above all, he is also one of Malta’s greatest political giants and patriots of all time. Dr Mifsud Bonnici belongs to one of the most distinguished political and legal households in Malta. His progenitors were Giuseppe Mifsud, a cleric, and Olympia Bonici whose family of noble extraction was founder of the arch-parish church of Żejtun. He belongs to...