A group of retired Maltese ambassadors recently held a get together at the roof-top swimming pool bar of the Diplomat Hotel, Sliema, for the first time since the Maltese Diplomatic Service was formed in the mid-1960s.
Among those present was Ambassador Frederick Amato Gauci, known by many as the 'father' of the Maltese Foreign Service and founder of the Maltese Foreign Office. In the early years he personally ensured that the first Maltese diplomats, who joined the Foreign Office at the time, received proper diplomatic training both in Malta and overseas as the Foreign Ministry's junior diplomats, before taking up their responsibilites in Maltese embassies.
Most of those present had served in several countries as junior officers and eventually rose up the ranks to become ambassadors to a wide range of countries.
The group also included ambassadors who were at the time political appointees. Another get together is expected to take place in mid-September and a dinner is scheduled for the Christmas season.