Frans Sammut

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Frans Sammut (Malta, 1945 - ) is considered[citation needed] one of Malta's foremost literary persons. He studied at the Zebbug Primary School, St Aloysius College, St Michael's Teacher Training College, the University of Malta (B.A., S.Th. Dip., M.Ed.) and the Perugia University (Diploma to teach Italian abroad).

Sammut first gained recognition in the late 1960s when he co-founded the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju - the Literary Revival Movement. Later he served as Secretary of the Akkademja tal-Malti - the Maltese Language Academy.

He has published numerous works, among which the best-selling novels Il-Gagga(1971) [The Cage], Samuraj (1974), and Il-Holma Maltija (1994) [The Maltese Dream], about which literary critic Norbert Ellul-Vincenti said that "there is nothing of its magnitude in Maltese literature."[citation needed] Sammut also published Paceville in 1991 which won the Government's Literary Medal. He published collections of short stories, Labirint (1967) [Labyrinth],Newbiet (1998) [Seasons] and 'Hrejjef Zminjietna' (2000).

His non-fiction works include Ir-Rivoluzzjoni Franciza: il-Grajja u t-Tifsira(1989) [The French Revolution: The Story and the Meaning], Bonaparti f'Malta (1997) [Bonaparte in Malta], and On the Da Vinci Code (2006), a bilingual (English and Maltese) commentary on the international best-seller. He also edited Mikiel Anton Vassalli's Lexicon(2002). Vassalli (d.1829) is considered the Father of the Maltese Language. In 2006, Sammut's translation of Vassalli's 'Motti, Aforismi e Proverbii Maltesi'(1828)was published as Ghajdun il-Ghaqal, Kliem il-Gherf u Qwiel Maltin". In 2007 his 'Il-Gagga' was published for the fourth time and his 'Il-Holma Maltija' in translation represaented Malta in the Esperanto collection of classic literary books by Mondial Books of New York. Marjorie Boulton called the book "a colossal work". When the novel was first published, The Times acclaimed him thus: "There is nothing of this scale or stature in our literature".

Sammut's books feature continuously in examination syllabi and are deemed[citation needed] classics of modern Maltese literature.

He wrote the libretto for several musicals for folk-singers, all of which have been box office successes but none of which has been published.

Sammut's profession is of a School Headmaster, though from 1996 to 1998 he worked as a cultural consultant to the Prime Minister of Malta. He is married, and is a father of two sons, Mark and Jean-Pierre.

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