Akkademja tal-Malti will hold its next talk on Tuesday at 6pm at Sala Robert Samut, Floriana.

The talk (which will be illustrated with an overhead projector) will focus on new research carried out on the publication of one of the important cultural and linguistic landmarks of early modern Maltese history, the publication of the Maltese priest Francesco Wzzino’s translation of the standard Catholic catechism by Bellarmino.

Besides new material shedding light on the publication and distribution of the early editions of Wzzino’s translation, the talk will also focus on the long-term influence left by the translation in the imparting of catechetical instruction on subsequent generations of Maltese.

William Zammit holds a B.Ed.(Hons) degree, a diploma in Library and Information Studies, a Masters degree with distinction and a Doctorate in History, all from the University of Malta. His field of specialisation is early-modern Maltese history, with particular focus on the mechanisms of communication and dissemination of ideas.

His unpublished research includes A Bibliography of Works Printed in Malta, 1642-1798 (1988), Printing and its Cultural Role in Malta during the Rule of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1996) and The Dissemination of Unorthodoxy and New Ideas in Malta, 1700-1798 (2001).

Dr Zammit is also the author of various published studies on Maltese history, printing and bibliography and has carried out research in local and foreign libraries and archival collections.

He is a council member of the Malta Historical Society, editor of Melita Historica since 2000 and of Proceedings of History Week 1999. He is a lecturer in Systems of Knowledge at Junior College.