Remembering my dear friend Guido: a man of integrity, high principles and good sense

I came to know of Guido de Marco’s death when I was in Gozo. A few days earlier, I was at his bedside in Mater Dei Hospital, surrounded by members of his family.

He was in his usual optimistic mood, marvelling at the recovery he had made and planning for the future. His love for life was infectious.

I had known Prof. de Marco for more than 60 years since our days at St Aloysius’ College and at University. At that time, the student body numbered around 300. Lectures were held in the Old University Building and members of various faculties used to interact all the time, especially at the student’s club in front of the Old University.

Though we were in the same University year, Prof. de Marco and my late brother Joe were reading law while I was studying medicine. Our families have remained close since.

I remember that a few months after we qualified in 1955, my father, who was one of the senior lawyers at the time, remarked about Prof. de Marco: “This boy will succeed.”

And succeed he did. In time he became the top criminal lawyer and, in academia, one of the most respected professors of criminal law.

It was in the political arena that he made the biggest impact on the local and world stage. He already showed signs of leadership during his presidency of the student’s representative council.

Like fellow lawyers of his age, he became active in poli-tics and played a major role within the Nationalist Party. The medico-political dispute of 1977 disrupted the lives of members of the medical profession and I, for one, went to Kuwait to set up the Medical School as foundation professor of medicine.

In the 10 years my wife and I were there we followed with a certain degree of apprehension the developments in Malta. We were heartened by the wonderful tandem of Eddie Fenech Adami and Prof. de Marco who, together with their colleagues, succeeded, in those difficult times, to see that Malta remained free and democratic.

In those days, whenever we returned to Malta on holiday, we always found time to renew our friendship with Prof. de Marco and Violet.

I believe that though Prof. de Marco excelled as a Minister of Justice, he reached the peak of his accomplishments when he became Minister of Foreign Affairs.

When he was president of the General Assembly of the United Nations, he won the gratitude of Kuwait for the strong support he gave them. I have been going to Kuwait every year for the past 20 years as an external examiner in Medicine and every time I am reminded of the high respect in which he was held over there.

Indeed, two days before his funeral, I received an e-mail from my friend the Kuwaiti Minister of Health saying Kuwait was sending a 25-member dele-gation to attend Prof. de Marco’s funeral and that they would like to see me. When I went to the Intercontinental Hotel to meet them, I was told by the Prime Minister of Kuwait that they owed their freedom in large measure to Prof. de Marco’s persistent efforts.

Through his determination, worldwide contacts and meetings over the years, he played a major role in fulfilling his lifelong ambition of seeing Malta join the EU.

His presidency was a unifying and dignified one, reflect-ing the principles enunciated in his book, The Politics of Persuasion.

But what about the man? He had a formidable intellect, an analytical brain and extensive knowledge of world affairs. He impressed all those who came in contact with him. He was at ease whether he was dealing with world personalities or with ordinary citizens.

On Tuesdays or Thursdays at around noon, he and Violet used to have coffee at Caffé Cordina and on occasion I used to join them.

I was impressed at how people used to go up to him and greet him; he always responded with his ready smile and always managed a nice word for them.

In the long years that I have known him, I have never heard him say an unkind word about anybody. It is not surprising that the whole nation was in mourning on the day of his funeral.

All his achievements and honours would not have materialised without the steadfast, continuous and loyal support of his wife. He was also blessed with a delightful family who gave him a lot of satisfaction and happiness.

Malta has lost one of its best sons, a statesman, a top academic lawyer and a gentleman. I, for one, will miss a dear friend, a man of inte-grity, high principles and good sense.