Lino Spiteri writes:

Last week, Maltese society became poorer with the passing away of Franġisk Calleja, at a venerable age and with all his faculties unimpaired.

One can say that Franġisk epitomised all that is good about Maltese society. Over the long years I have known him, I recognised him as a gentleman farmer, never far removed from the land, his land. Franġisk lived for the land and, in addition to that, for his family. He symbolised it with the attention he gave to it, not just in matters related to agriculture but to all that is connected with it.

Born and bred in poverty, he never allowed poverty to bring him down. Rather, he faced it with fierce determination, a determination that made him stand out as a peer example of everything that a gentleman ought to be. Coming from a small family, he managed to build an enviable circle of friends.

He shone as a gentleman and a farmer, in an area where he led as an example to the other farmers.

I first met Franġisk over 40 years ago, having returned to the island after completing my studies in England. I had heard that a farmer in Mġarr, known as Tal Mitt Alla, made a good bottle of local wine. Since, back then, any self-respecting man from Qormi appreciated the produce of the grape, I ventured to Mġarr in search of Tal Mitt Alla and, once there, approached a group of men talking under some shade in the village square. It turned out that Tal Mitt Alla did not make his wine any longer but one of these gentlemen, Franġisk, having recognised me from some appearance on black and white television, invited me to go with him so he would give me some of his own farmer’s wine. At his home in Binġemma, he gave me two bottles of his excellent red and I can still taste that wine Franġisk had made, delicious, as if it were only yesterday.

We became friends and, with the passing of time, closer friends still. Without fail, he always brought two bottles of wine every Christmas. I marvelled at his orchards in Binġemma, full of the finest citrus trees I have seen on the island.

Franġisk became the inspiration for the character Pawlu, father of the imaginary main character Xandru in my short story Fejn jixrok il-qasab fis-sajf, where I had tried, in my own way, to describe Franġisk’s unique skill at grafting fruit trees.

Franġisk was a son of the land; he projected the land as if it were an extension of himself, which it was. And, as part of that land, he will not easily be forgotten.

Now departed, Franġisk leaves a legacy that will not be easily replaced: his beloved wife, Rita, his son, Frank, and his partner Nicole, his daughter, Grace, her husband, Charles, and Franġisk’s cherished grandchildren, Julia and Nick.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.