First catechism in Maltese

Akkademja Tal-Malti's next talk will be on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Robert Samut Hall (opposite Sarria church), Floriana.

The illustrated talk will focus on new research carried out on the 1752 publication Taghlim Nisrani, a translation by the Maltese priest Francesco Wzzino of the standard Catholic catechism by St Robert Bellarmino.

Besides new material shedding light on the publication and distribution of the early editions of Wzzino's translation, the talk will also focus on the long-term influence left by the translation in the imparting of catechetical instruction for subsequent generations of Maltese.

William Zammit holds a B.Ed. (Hons) degree, a diploma in Library and Information Studies, a Master's degree with distinction and a doctorate in History, all awarded by the University of Malta. His field of specialisation is early-modern Maltese history, with particular focus on the mechanisms of communication and dissemination of ideas. 

His unpublished research includes A Bibliography of Works Printed in Malta, 1642-1798 (1988), Printing and its Cultural Role in Malta during the Rule of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1996) and The Dissemination of Unorthodoxy and New Ideas in Malta, 1700-1798 (2001). 

Dr Zammit is also the author of various published studies on Maltese history, printing and bibliography, and has carried out research in local and foreign libraries and archival collections.

Dr Zammit is a council member of the Malta Historical Society, editor of Melita Historica since 2000 and of Proceedings of History Week 1999.  He is currently a lecturer in Systems of Knowledge at the University Junior College.