A dedicated eye doctor who contested his first general election at 50, Ċensu Tabone filled different roles, but he fascinated everyone with his refusal to let age get in the way. Ariadne Massa chronicles momentous quotes throughout the decades.
“The sulphonamides have no doubt proved to be a milestone in our age-long fight to conquer trachoma, but they are not the ideal answer... Our goal should be to find a method capable of controlling the disease in a matter of days”
April 1951, in the British Medical Journal explaining the treatment he was using to eradicate trachoma in Gozo.
“While he is its leader I follow his leadership, but I disagree with the personality cult that he seems to foster so much”
January 1974, as Nationalist Party deputy leader, Dr Tabone wrote to parliamentary group secretary Mario Felice showing that although he was still loyal to the party, he did not believe leader George Borg Olivier’s person was the same as the party. Like a growing number of MPs he was convinced Dr Borg Olivier had become a liability and it was in the party’s interest that he go or be made to go.
“I am sure that even you, who hold the reins of power and who keeps saying that there is no crisis, would prefer a better climate and a more serene environment”
July 1982, in his first ‘secret boycott exchanges’ to then Prime Minister Dom Mintoff in an attempt to instil reason at a time when the Nationalists boycotted Parliament after the perverse electoral result of 1981.
“I have lived my life to the full and if I had the chance to go back I would do the same things all over again”
March 1993, in an interview with The Malta Independent to mark his 80th birthday.
“Only The Times has continued to call me Vincent Tabone to this day”
In serialised interviews with his biographer Henry Frendo, between 1995-2000, Dr Tabone spoke of how proud he was that he had taken his oath of office in 1966 as “Ċensu Tabone”.
“I have a great ambition to see the Maltese people unite...”
April 1989, when he was being sworn in as President.
“I will continue looking ahead with faith and courage, as I have always done”
March 1994, in his address at a dinner hosted at Castille to mark the end of his Presidency.
“The laws of nature are sacrosanct and interference may only be considered when it is intended to facilitate nature’s laws, and never to go against them”
November 1991, in his address at the opening session of the 43rd World Medical Assembly, in Valletta, following reports on the possibility of impregnating a woman long past her menopause using artificial methods.
“There is no big secret – it’s love. We don’t always agree, but it’s a give and take relationship”
March 2003, in an interview with The Times to mark his 90th birthday explaining what lay behind his long and happy marriage.
“The Labour Party’s three-year boycott of my Presidency was quite unjust and hurt a lot”
April 2002, in an interview with The Times, describing how he felt about Labour’s decision to boycott his Presidency.
“More!”
November 2011, when jokingly asked if he still loved his wife during the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary, Dr Tabone simply answered with this one word.