Rużar Briffa

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Dr. Rużar Briffa (1906 - 1963) was a Maltese poet and dermatologist, and a major figure in Maltese literature.

“I never thought of publishing these poems in a book. Some were written in hard times, others in moments of joy. And I wrote them for myself….” These were the poet’s words as they appeared in his first collection of poetry, Poeżiji, published in 1971 thanks to his second wife Louisette and his friend P. Valentin Barbara’s constant encouragement. Many of his poems were written on bits of papers cut from notebooks or on the inner part of a used packet of cigarettes. Others were written on papers intended for medical prescriptions, on paper-bags; in short, he would use anything that was at hand to capture his muse in.

[edit] His Life

He was known as the poet of smallness and simplicity. Rużar Briffa studied at the Saint Elmo elementary state school and at the Valletta Lyceum. Having obtained his Matriculation certificate, in 1923 he started teaching at elementary schools. In 1924, he began his studies in medicine at the University of Malta and completed them in London in venereology and dermatology. In 1932 he became a specialist in skin diseases. He was known for his humility and his greatheartedness in dealing with his patients, especially those suffering from leprosy.

According to his wife Louisette, his dream in his occupation was to beautify skin and to make it less displeasing to the eye. This aspect emerges frequently in his poetry, so much so that in his time he was known as the Poet of Beauty.

In 1931, together with his friend Ġużè Bonnici, he founded the Għaqda tal-Malti - Università, which is active to date, and started issuing the magazine Leħen il-Malti (literally, the voice of Maltese).

Rużar Briffa died on the 22nd February, 1963. His full biography was released in 1984 by Professor Oliver Friggieri.

[edit] His Poetry

Although Briffa wrote very little, he was significantly appreciated by literary critics. Many wrote about him. These are some of comments he passed on poetry, as an individual interpretation and as a universal expression:

“My poems are no great events, no profound thoughts on Life, and not even exalted desires of another World. They are just impressions, to put it this way, snapshots of everyday life as my heart senses them. The power of a snapshot is in its size, which in spite of being small, captures details which in a larger photo would pass unnoticed ... I too feel my poems have the power of simplicity.”

“I did not write for glory. Poetry for me is by no means a matter of amusement, but rather of great suffering.”

“I am struck by a thought and I keep brooding over it for several months – or even years. Then I feel a sudden outburst. And no matter where I am, I would have to get a pencil and a paper and in a matter of a minute the poem flows out of nothing. No poem took me more than five minutes to write down.”

“poetry should only aim to reach the heart of the heart of man, and even if it arrives at it just once, then poetry would have reached its climax.”

In Mosta, Malta there is a road named after this poet, 'Triq Rużar Briffa'.