Remembering Paul Guillaumier

Phil Gerd Hagenah, in his obituary to Paul Guillaumier (The Sunday Times, October 11, 2009), said he first met him in 1989, after an article he wrote had irked Mr Guillaumier. Through Mr Guillaumier's generosity and willingness to share his knowledge, they became good friends.

Unfortunately, I only met Mr Guillaumier a couple of years ago after an important underwater discovery I made led me to write a couple of articles in The Sunday Times in December 2006. I knew that Mr Guillaumier was a scholar who had researched St Paul's shipwreck and sojourn in Malta so I was somewhat thrilled when he called me to discuss my articles, elated to note that he shared the Salina Bay theory for St Paul's shipwreck site.

Encouraged by his wisdom and the fact that other scholars too are supporters of the Salina Bay theory, I went on to write a book which was published earlier this year.

When I presented the script to my publisher, Allied Publications, I was asked to appoint editors and suggested Mr Guillaumier and Laurence Grech. I was only too happy to have these two gentlemen on board and the outcome is very much due to their input.

Mr Guillaumier was in full agreement with my research but continued to supply me with additional information that further substantiated my arguments. In one of our conversations at his home I told him that I did not have the 'Scicluna notes' that would probably help me in my research but that I had managed to download one of Scicluna's maps.

To my surprise, a couple of days after our meeting, I received a large envelope by post containing a full copy of the 'Scicluna notes' plus other relevant documents, including articles Mr Guillaumier had written, some published, others used for lectures and seminars.

I fully concur with Mr Hagenah's description of Mr Guillaumier: "He was learned, kind, helpful and generous to anybody who sought help". I shall forever cherish his kind words during the speech he gave at my book launch, and his written endorsement which is the blurb on the back page of my book.

I send my sympathy to his family. I am certain you will always cherish the time and space you shared with such a wise and generous man. Take comfort in the fact that Mr Guillaumier is now walking with the Paul he dedicated so much time to in his research.