Oliver Friggieri

Oliver Friggieri (27 March 194721 November 2020) was a Maltese poet, novelist, literary critic, and philosopher.

He led the establishment of literary history and criticism in Maltese while teaching at the University of Malta, studying the works of Dun Karm, Rużar Briffa, and others.

A prolific writer himself, Friggieri explored new genres to advocate the Maltese language, writing the libretti for the first oratorio and the first cantata in Maltese.

Friggieri was born in Floriana in 1947.

He entered the University of Malta in 1964, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Maltese, Italian and Philosophy (1968).

He completed his secondary education at the Archbishop's Minor Seminary, and was in the Major Seminary until 1967.

He co-founded Malta's Literary Revival Movement (Moviment Qawmien Letterarju) in 1967; he was part of the editorial board (1969–73) of Il-Polz, the movement's periodical, later becoming the editor (1974-1975).

After graduating in 1968, Friggeri taught Maltese and Philosophy in secondary schools.

He also co-founded the popular children's literary and cultural magazine Is-Sagħtar (1971).

In 1971, Friggieri and Paul Mizzi established a publishing house, Klabb Kotba Maltin (Maltese Book Club), which facilitated the publishing of books in Maltese.

He was the first recipient of a Masters degree in Maltese literature from the University of Malta (1975).

In 1976, he moved to the University of Malta; he was promoted from Assistant Lecturer to Lecturer in 1978, and from Lecturer to associate professor in 1988.

In 1978, he received a Doctorate in Maltese literature and Literary Criticism from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy.

He became the editor of the Journal of Maltese Studies in 1980.

He was also a member of the Association Internationale des Critiques Litteraires of Paris, France.

Friggieri published in various genres.

As his primary focus was Maltese literature, most of his publications were not of a directly philosophical nature; they included dictionaries of literature, oratorios, cantatas, literary criticism, literary biographies, and anthologies of his own poetry.

He also penned a tribute to Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana, casualties of Maltese political violence in the 1980s.

Friggieri was part of the committee that translated EU legal texts into Maltese.

His work aimed to promote the Maltese cultural identity, while not shying from criticism: one of his most famous novels, Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri (No Flowers Grow in Parliament, 1986), attacked the tribalistic divisions of society caused by politics.

From philosophy, he was mostly interested in epistemology and existentialism.

His 1986 novel Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri was highly controversial when published due to its unvarnished portrayal of political tribalism in Malta.

He wrote the libretti for the first Maltese-language oratorio (Pawlu ta’ Malta, 1989), and cantata (L-Għanja ta’ Malta, 1989); both works were scored by Charles Camilleri.

Friggieri also wrote literary analyses of the works of Mikiel Anton Vassalli and Peter Caxaro.

His works have been translated into 16 languages, including English, French, German, Italian and Greek.

Friggieri supported the Maltese-language press, publishing articles in L-Orizzont and In-Nazzjon.

Besides contributing to these and other local periodicals, Friggieri wrote novels and short stories.

Many of these works are of special interest to philosophy, featuring pathos and philosophical reflections.

His fiction and poetry were influenced by existentialism.

He was made a professor in 1990.

Friggieri was an advocate of Maltese language and literature in newly independent Malta.

That same year, he was chosen to be the Chair of the Department of Maltese language, a position which he held until 2002.

In 2008, Friggieri published an autobiography, Fjuri li ma Jinxfux (Flowers Which Never Wither), spanning the years 1955–1990.

In addition to his own writings, he translated works from English, Italian, and Latin into Maltese.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat appointed him as Chair of the Foundation for National Festivities in 2013.

Verses from Friggieri's poem "Jekk" ("If") can be found printed on some bus shelters around Malta.

This led to the poem being known as "the bus stop poem" by the general public.

Friggieri received the Ġieħ l-Akkademja tal-Malti gold medal in 2016 and won Malta's National Book Prize several times.

In 2018, the Maltese band The Travellers released the song "Ilkoll Flimkien".

The lyrics of this song contain excerpts of the poem "Jekk".