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 Beyond
the line of grey cargo ships and the terrible heat,
the SS. Province reached the port city of Santos.
After a month on board, father Charbon and his flock
of seventy three people had finally arrived in
Brazil, their new homeland. In the same month of
April, another ship left Malta bringing another 106
souls to work in the coffee plantations. Though they
would also come to work in the plantations, their
final destination would not be the same.
The year was 1912 and the opening of the twentieth
century which found Malta with an increasing
population, a high rate of unemployment and the
absence of a developing industrial sector. With the
detraction of Malta's naval importance, the problem
became even worse, and a great number of Maltese
started to leave Malta.
Most of the Maltese emigrants arrived in Brazil
holding a British passport and were, therefore,
considered by the Brazilian authorities to be
British citizens, and not Maltese. Add to it the
fact that some of the emigrants had their surnames
changed to have an anglicized touch in them. Despite
the lack of trustworthy statistics, as Dr Bonnici
from Maringa State University explains in his
article, we can divide the Maltese emigration to
Brazil into three different periods with distinct
purposes.
The first group of emigrants arrived in the first
decade of the twentieth century to work in the
coffee plantations. By that time Brazil's economy
was heavily based on the coffee monoculture, and
coffee was the most valued asset of the nation.
There was a demand for people to work in the
plantations, and a great number of European
emigrants came to Brazil. The first group of Maltese
headed to the plantations in Sao Paulo, while the
second group was sent to rural activities in
Fortaleza, in Northern Brazil. From these two groups
that arrived in Brazil, many of the families
returned to Malta.
The second group of emigrants arrived by the end of
the 20's to work for the British enterprise of
building and maintenance of Brazilian railroads. The
few miles of Brazilian railroads were an impediment
to the flow of the Brazilian production proceeding
from other regions. It was in the twenties that the
railway expansion boomed and President Washington
Luis summarized its importance in his well known
motto: "Governing is a railway building." Almost all
the Maltese that came to Brazil at that time met Mr
Dominic Collier from Floriana, who held an
administrative position in the Sao Paulo-Parana
railway company.
The third and last Maltese immigration to Brazil in
the 50's and 60's differed totally from the previous
two and had a religious purpose. During the fifties
the State of Parana experienced an economical
development and the spiritual need of the population
were increasing. The Franciscan Order of Malta had
been required to send some sisters to help with the
growing diocese of Jacarezinho. Throughout the
fifties and sixties a great number of priests
proceeding from the islands of Malta and Gozo
arrived to Brazil. Priests coming from Zebbug,
Naxxar, Birkirkara, Floriana and many other Maltese
and Gozotian cities were sent to a great number of
dioceses, not only to the State of Parana but also
to the States of Sao Paulo and Pernambuco. In 1977
father Walter Ebejer was consecrated bishop of the
diocese of Vitoria do Sul. Father Ebejer is author
Francis Ebejer's brother.
Presently, many families of Maltese background can
be found in several Brazilian cities; quite a few
remained from the first and second immigration
groups and most of the others are priests in the
clerical work. Among them we can find the Busuttils,
the Zammits and many other Maltese descendants; and
if we take a look at the telephone directory we will
find many other Maltese surnames, such as Azzopardi,
Balzan, Cutajar, and so many others which sound
familiar to any Maltese. Among the priests, Father
Xavier from Luqa is well know to all those who got
married in the beautiful parish of Osasco. |
