The man who built himself

On Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 4.18 p.m., the alert, articulate red-haired young man I had met close to 60 years ago passed away. He was 79 years old.

Guido de Marco and I met in Ħamrun at the sessions of the Legion of Mary and in the activities of the Maltese Language Movement (Moviment tal-Malti). Our paths took different courses in life. Our personal friendship was steadfast and never wavered.

Prof. de Marco was one of that rare breed of mortals who make themselves, move up the ladder, sometimes, through the vicissitudes of fortune, slip up, climb again and re-invent themselves.

The young lawyer in the late 1950s did not come from a pedigree of the legal profession. He built himself. He carved a brilliant career as a criminal counsel. It was his ability emanating from a deep knowledge and understanding of the law and his natural talent of empathising with human nature that gave him the rewards he earned at the Bar. Yes, of course, he could flirt very ably and most successfully with the jury and win cases for his clients. That was his supreme well-crafted natural gift, polished to perfection.

In the early 1960s, he entered politics and joined the splinter Party of the Maltese Christian Democrats. It could have cost him his political life. He survived. Slowly but surely, he re-invented himself in the Nationalist Party throughout the 1970s and the 1980s.

It is little to be wondered that when he published his eponymous autobiography in 2007 he called the work The Politics Of Persuasion.

The newly-reborn and re­vamped Nationalist Party, under its fresh leadership in 1977, helped Prof. de Marco show his true mettle and helped enhance his image within the party grassroots. His razor sharp legal mind helped him. The new “jury” outside the courtroom was won over slowly but steadily. The party accepted him. He was rewarded both domestically and on the international scene. Prof. de Marco excelled in all roles.

The Nationalist Party in power acknowledged his qualities and services, first by helping to seeing him become president of the United Nations and, later on, by elevating him to the highest echelon by giving him the honour of becoming President of the Republic of Malta.

The private Guido was a man of culture who loved and understood the world of the arts and literature.

Prof. de Marco sustained himself by breathing the rarefied air of academe.

He was never a confrontational person. He believed in building bridges, working deftly, patiently and with perseverance in the corridors of power where the real decisions are taken and not in front of crowds who only feel the orator’s rousing words. The thinking is always done behind the scenes.

As Malta’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prof. de Marco contributed valiantly, albeit only for a mention in the footnote of the history books, to help resolve the conflicts between cousins in the near Middle East.

He spent the best part of his 60 years out of 79 of his mortal life following his unwavering beliefs in his personal direct activities in his public life in the pursuit of the common good for Malta according to his steadfast beliefs.

Prof. de Marco is survived by his wife Violet, lifelong partner and confidante, his daughters Giannella, Fiorella and his son Mario, all lawyers and their respective families.