On Thursday, 15 May at 6.30pm, the new book by Arnold Cassola and Silvio Aliffi, entitled Malta-Pachino: una storia in comune, will be launched at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, in Valletta. The general public is invited to attend.

The Sicilian town of Pachino, which encompasses within its territory the popular port of Marzamemi, was founded in 1760.  The original inhabitants were supposed to be Catholics coming from Greece, Albania and Illyria, the Western part of the Balkan peninsula.

Instead, by 1763, it was already inundated by Maltese settlers, who already formed the major part of the population. The Maltese were considered to be illegal settlers but indeed they were tolerated without any problems. Indeed, they ended up being the motor of the Pachino economy and earned their living as cheese makers, cotton growers and stone masons.

Today Pachino, famous for its world-renowned cherry tomatoes, has thousands of its citizens who are named Sultana, Cassar, Busuttil, Buhagiar, Cammenzuli, Scerri, Dingli and a myriad of other surnames of clear Maltese origin.

The two authors trace the origins of the first Maltese in Pachino and hypothesise that many of them came from Gozo, in particular Xewkija, as well as Xaghra and Nadur.

Following the launch, the attendees will be treated to some fresh Maltese ftira, soaked in Pachino olive oil and cherry tomatoes, and accompanied by wines produced by the Pachino Squasi firm, of Maltese origins.