The “French gentleman” mentioned in the letter by Charles Said-Vassallo (June 13) is the prolific author of Maltese descent, Fernand Gregh.

Born in Paris on October 14, 1873, the son of Louis Gregh (1843-1915), a composer who owned a music shop in rue de la Chaussée-d’Antin and of Charlotte-Élise Bonnard, he was elected to the Académie française in 1953 and was also Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur. He was married to Harlette Hayem and had a son and a daughter. He died on January 5, 1960.

He was a writer by profession, his literary output is vast and varied: poetry, music and literary critical essays, plays and an autobiography in three volumes, L’Âge d’or (1947), L’Âge d’airain (1951) and L’Âge de fer (1956). It is in the first of this trilogy that Gregh mentions his Maltese grandparents, Calcedonio and Marguerite née Mizzi who came from Lija.

Calcedonio emigrated to Philippeville, Algeria where he was British Consul and where Fernand’s father was born, then moved to Paris.

About his grandmother, the author says that her mother’s maiden name was Grima and that “la célèbre cantatrice Borghi-Mamo lui était apparentée”, the famous singer Borghi-Mamo, was related to her.

Borghi-Mamo’s singing career in Malta is recorded in Michelangelo Borg’s Cronistoria dell’Opera Lirica a Malta. She is indicated as the contralto taking part in the opera seasons from October 1848 to March 1851.

Fernand Gregh’s 100th birthday was celebrated in Malta between April 29 and May 5, 1974, by the then French section of the Department of Romance Languages, headed by the late François Cunen, with the collaboration of the Embassy of France.

The activities included the unveiling of a plaque at the belvedere in Transfiguration Avenue, Lija where it still stands.