Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was the fifth President of Malta from 1994 to 1999.

Early life, education, and family

He was born in Cospicua

Cospicua

Ċittà Cottonera, Ċittà Cospicua, Cospicua is a double-fortified harbour city on the Mediterranean island of Malta. It is the largest of the Three Cities. It was also given a title as Citta' Cottonera, but erroneously the title is now used to define the whole region...

 as the son of Professor Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici LL.D and Maria Ross. He was educated at the Lyceum

Lyceum

The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...

 and the Royal University of Malta

University of Malta

The University of Malta is the highest educational institution in Malta Europe and is one of the most respected universities in Europe. The University offers undergraduate Bachelor's Degrees, postgraduate Master's Degrees and postgraduate Doctorates .-History:The University of Malta was founded in...

. He graduated as a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1952 and as a Doctor of Laws in 1955. As a lawyer, Dr Mifsud Bonnici practised in all the Law Courts of Malta. On 3 May 1959 he married Gemma née Bianco. They have three children: Carmelo, Anton and Jeanne-Pia.

Entry to politics

Following in his father's footsteps, he contested the General Elections

Elections in Malta

Malta elects on a national level the executive -, legislature and 6 MEPs representing Malta in the European Parliament....

 in the interests of the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party (Malta)

The Nationalist Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party. It was founded by Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as the Anti-Reform Party, opposing taxation decreed by the British colonial authorities and measures to Anglicise the educational and the...

 in 1966. He was elected from the 2nd District which comprised Cospicua

Cospicua

Ċittà Cottonera, Ċittà Cospicua, Cospicua is a double-fortified harbour city on the Mediterranean island of Malta. It is the largest of the Three Cities. It was also given a title as Citta' Cottonera, but erroneously the title is now used to define the whole region...

, Vittoriosa, Senglea

Senglea

Senglea is a fortified city in the east of Malta, mainly in the Grand Harbour area. It is one of the Three Cities in the east of Malta, the other two being Cospicua and Vittoriosa. The city of Senglea is also called Civitas Invicta, because it managed to resist the Ottoman invasion at the Great...

, Kalkara

Kalkara

Il-Kalkara is a small picturesque village in Malta, with a population of 2,856 . The name is derived from the Latin word for lime , and it is believed that there was a lime kiln present there since Roman times. Kalkara forms part of the inner harbour area and occupies the area around Kalkara Creek...

 and Fgura

Fgura

Fgura is a town in the south of Malta. It is one of the 68 local councils.Much of Fgura was built around the 1960s. However, the town has prehistoric roots - there are several tombs in the area - and there is evidence to suggest it was a settlement in Phoenician times...

.He has been re-elected in all subsequent General Elections.For fifteen years (1972–1987) he was the Nationalist Party's spokesman for Education.In 1977 he was also elected President of the Party's General and Administrative Councils.

Cabinet Member

In 1987 the Nationalist Party was elected to Government and Bonnici was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Education. His portfolio included Education, Environment, Broadcasting, Culture, Youth, Museums and Sport. In 1990 he became Minister of Education and the Interior. Following the 1992 elections Mifsud Bonnici was appointed Minister of Education and Human Resources.

As a Member of Parliament, Dr Mifsud Bonnici took an active interest in the updating of Malta's legislation. He was a member of numerous Select Committees including the Committee set up to draft the Constitutional changes that declared Malta a Republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

.

As a Minister, Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici worked on the drafting of important legislation such as the Education Act, the Environment Act, the National Archives Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Promotion Act. He made a strong effort to improve the standards at public schools.

President

He became President of Malta in 4 April 1994 and served until his term of office ended in 4 April 1999.

Writings

Notwithstanding his commitments, Dr Mifsud Bonnici is a prolific writer. His articles have appeared in various newspapers and some of them were published in two books: Il-Linja t-Tajba - L-Aħjar Artikli ta' Dottor Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and Biex il-Futur Reġa' Beda. He also spent some years as editor of a literary magazine Malta Letterarja.