A foundation honouring former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff was established yesterday, barely 12 hours after his death.

The Fundazzjoni Duminku Mintoff will be led by Professor Josef Grech, with Mr Mintoff’s two daughters serving as its patrons.

Its primary aim, a foundation spokesman said, will be to ensure Mr Mintoff’s name lives on.

“It’s important for today’s youngsters to learn about Mr Mintoff in greater depth, especially in terms of meetings which took place 50 years ago,” they said.

The idea of establishing a foundation in Mr Mintoff’s honour was first mooted during meetings of Front Maltin Inqumu, the anti-EU lobby group which in January 2010 had renamed itself Front Favur Dom Mintoff.

“Dom Mintoff was abandoned by many people after the 1998 issue,” a foundation spokesman told The Times.

Mr Mintoff’s refusal to vote along with his Labour Party colleagues in 1998 brought about the collapse of the then-PL government.

“When Prof. Grech began visiting Mr Mintoff at his family home to write his biography, the foundation idea began to take shape,” a spokesman told The Times.

That biography, titled Duminku Mintoff u Malta fiż-żmienu, will be published over the coming weeks, together with a collection of over 50 political meetings which Mr Mintoff held between 1950 and 2004.