|
 Miss
Agatha Barbara was born at Zabbar on the 11th March,
1923.
She studied at the Government Grammar School in
Valletta and had to plead with her parents to find
money to send her to secondary school. She grew up
in difficult times, when much of the population was
frustrated by poverty, illness, illiteracy and
unemployment and also witnessed her father lose a
wage rise promotion since he could not read nor
write.
She became a school teacher, and in 1946 began to
take an active part in politics. She was the first
woman to be elected to the House of Representatives,
having contested for the first time the General
Elections in 1947 as a member of the Malta Labour
Party.
She would go mad when describing her 1958
imprisonment after taking part in Labour's national
strike against the British government's policies in
Malta. Dreadful was the situation: she, a woman,
being jailed for opposing British rule. Yet, she
still believed in what she had done, and time gave
her the upper hand.
Miss Barbara contested successfully every election
held, and represented the Labour Party in several
international meetings and conferences and led
official Government delegations to various
countries.
During the Labour Administration of 1955-1958 and
1971-1974 she served as minister of Education. Her
devotion was perhaps seeded in her education career.
From her humble beginnings as a teacher at Flores
College, she could understand the student's life.
Later, as minister of education, she strove to make
this life better. Incidentally, one of her students
was Guido de Marco, who, like herself, has become a
distinguished person to the nation.
She worked hard to provide proper schooling in state
schools and improved the education prospects for the
working class. Her role was, however, not without
difficulties. She was criticised for removing exams
from the system in trying to replace the
learn-by-heart education system by a character-based
one. She was, at times, even insulted and described
as being low-class due to her humble social
background.
Between 1974-81 she had the portfolio of Labour,
Culture and Welfare. She was appointed Acting Prime
Minister on several occasions.
Miss Agatha Barbara became President of the Republic
of Malta on Tuesday 16th February 1982 during the
second sitting of the first session of the fifth
legislature of the House of Representatives. She was
Malta’s third president having succeeded Sir Anthony
Mamo and Dr. Anton Buttigieg.
Ms. Agatha Barbara died in February 2002, she will
remain famous for her involvement in politics and
social welfare, yet her service to the nation, will
remain in our memories. |
