Alfred Fabri writes:

I was privileged to have been one of Salvinu Busuttil’s first students at University soon after he was appointed to a full-time chair in economics. He was very young then and was considered as a rising star at the university which was in transition from St Paul Street to a brave new world at the Msida campus.

There were just 12 of us on the course and we enjoyed a close relationship with Salvinu, who constantly encouraged and supported us throughout our time there and beyond.

Apart from being approachable, he was what one would now describe as a superlative networker. I recall we had been missing a lecturer in a particular subject and succeeded in bring­ing one over that same weekend from the UK so his students would not miss out.

His interests were wide-ranging, and in many cases he worked closely with his great and longstanding friend, Fr Peter Serracino Inglott. In particular he was a pioneer and exponent on the world stage in the environment movement, trail­blazing with Maurice Strong at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

As an academic he was loyal to his students, assiduous in his research and never shirked his duties to the community and to the State when he was called to serve in various capacities, including ambassador.

Originally a Jesuit, he kept in touch with the Society and recently could often be seen at Mount St Joseph and Manresa House.

A brilliant raconteur with an impish sense of humour, he will be missed by his family and us all, but we can certainly imagine him continuing in the same vein in the afterlife.

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