Paul Xuereb writes:

Others will no doubt write about Victor G. Griffiths as for many years one of our leading surgeons, and as a highly esteemed Professor of Anatomy and later of Surgery at the University of Malta.

He also served his University as its ombudsman for some years.

He was also, of course, a great student of Maltese history and bibliography and was well known for his passion for English literature, theatre and classical music.

He and his wife Margaret, also a medical doctor, were for decades a familiar sight at the theatre and in the concert hall.

He was generous in his praise for many in the theatre and was good enough to tell me more than once how much he enjoyed reading my theatre reviews and urging me to publish at least a good selection of them.

He was one of a brilliant group of Anglophiles, including Donald Sultana and Maurice Caruana Curran, who graduated in medicine or law during the war after having distinguished themselves as authors of English verse and prose.

Griffiths’ dedication to British culture led him to be one of the earliest active members of the British Culture Association that was set up in Malta following the closure for some years of the British Council in Malta after one of Dom Mintoff’s high-handed acts meant to show the British who had become the ruler of Malta.

He worked hard with Margaret Mortimer when she became chairman of this association, and when I was invited to join the committee it was the enthusiasm of Mortimer, Griffiths and Emanuel Agius that inspired me and others to produce a long series of literary and cultural activities that very often attracted large audiences. For some years he himself served energetically as chairman of the BCA.

Griffiths leaves behind him his devoted wife, a son and a daughter, but also the respect and admiration of all those who knew him.