Unforgettable Gerry Zammit

My feature article about the life of Gerry Zammit, which appeared on l-Orizzont last week, was the subject of another article published this weekend on It-Torca. Columnist and film historian Lino Cassar writes about his personal recollections of the young leader and protagonist of fifties Malta who, like James Dean, remains a symbol of youthful rebellion and unfulfilled promise. Zammit was jailed by the authorities following the April 1958 national protest against colonial rule, an event that changed the face of the island. That event was documented by Alfred Sant in his book "28 ta' April - Hobz u Helsien". Gerry Zammit died over 44 years ago while studying in Oxford aged 30. From "Lil Gerry Zammit ma ninsieh qatt!" by Lino Cassar:

Nixtieq nifrah minn qalbi lil Robert Micallef li f’l-orizzont ta’ nhar it-Tnejn fakkarna f’Gerry Zammit, wiehed mill-personalitajiet prominenti tal-moviment laburista (MLP u GWU) tas-snin 50. Nghidha minghajr tlaqliq li Robert Micallef – ghalkemm lil Gerry ma jiftakrux ghax wisq probabbli li ma kienx ghadu twieled* meta Gerry miet fis-6 ta’ Lulju 1961 – tabilhaqq ghamel ricerka bir-reqqa u lilna li lil Gerry niftakruh gibilna bosta tifkiriet sbieh, ghalkemm koroh ukoll ghax Gerry kien miet qasir il-ghomor ta’ ftit inqas minn 31 sena.

Jiena kont iltqajt l-ewwel darba ma’ Gerry Zammit fl-1957 meta hu kien segretarju tat-taqsima tal-gvern tal-GWU u jiena kont naghti daqqa t’id fil-gazzetta “Is-Sebh“ li kienet tinhadem f’Mayfair House, il-Belt, li kienet il-kwartier tal-GWU u fejn ukoll kien hemm l-istamperija Union Press. Allura konna niltaqghu kuljum u sirna hbieb, ghalkemm Gerry kien iddizappuntat hafna bija ghax jiena ma kontx dhalt membru fil-Labour League of Youth li taghha Gerry kien il-fundatur fl-1950, meta kellu biss 20 sena. Jiena kont ghadni ffissat fuq il-films, u fuq il-films biss, u Gerry kien jghid li jiena “mohh ir-rih“, izda bqajna hbieb xorta wahda!...

Xahrejn wara Gerry, f’Settembru 1961 kien miet ukoll ghal gharrieda Guzè Ellul Mercer id-deputat mexxej tal-Partit. Guzè u Gerry kienu zewg personalitajiet mill-aktar intellettwali, hbieb hafna u t-tnejn dejjem b’xi ktieb f’idejhom...Hasra li Gerry Zammit m’ghadux miftakar kif jixraqlu, izda jidher li l-habib tieghi Robert Micallef fi hsiebu jikteb ktieb shih fuqu. Ghalissa, sakemm johrog dan il-ktieb, inheggeg lill-qarrejja tieghi biex jaqraw u jergghu jaqraw dwar il-hajja u l-karriera qasira ta’ Gerry Zammit f’l-orizzont ta’ nhar it-Tnejn, l-1 ta’ Awissu, meta Gerry, kieku baqa’ haj, kien jaghlaq 75 sena.

*For the record, my date of birth is 10 August 1968 :)

In his regular column on the same edition of the paper, Charles Flores touches on the same subject :

..Figura fil-qasam politiku u industrijali li minn dejjem affaxxinat liz-zghazagh socjalisti ta’ kull generazzjoni bla dubju hija dik ta’ Gerry Zammit. Hadem u stinka bla stenna xi glorja. Bata l-habs u l-ingustizzja. Miet mewta kiefra f’zghozitu. Issa sar maghruf li, bil-haqq kollu, Robert Micallef qed jigbor it-taghrif kollu mehtieg biex iwasslilna l-istorja ta’ Gerry Zammit fi ktieb. Tislima xierqa u ferm mistennija...