Contemporary Maltese texts often mention the 18th-century French Knight and painter Antoine Favray (1706-1792).

However, his full name was Chevalier Antoine de Favray, as is clearly shown in Wikipedia, on Google and in several traditional works.

De Favray is known for his portraits of personalities of the Ottoman Empire, as well as paintings of Grand Masters in Malta.

Some of his renowned paintings include:

Annette, Comtesse de Vergennes, in oriental costume, Pera Museum, Istanbul; 

Audience of Charles de Vergennes with Sultan Osman III in 1755;

Reception of the Comte de Saint-Priest at the Ottoman Porte, 1767 and

The Comte de Saint-Priest with the Grand Vizier at the camp of Daud Pasha in 1769.

Some of de Favray’s works can also be seen in Malta’s museums and churches.

Apart from the probability that ‘de la Valette’ is almost as acceptable as de Valette, apart from when referring to Grand Master Jean de Valette or Jehan de Valete, as he himself signed his name, we can now consider whether we should henceforth adopt the new-fangled version ‘Antoine Favray’, or use the more correct and traditional Antoine de Favray.

The ‘de’ is important in French names, since it denotes a degree of nobility.

Some precision and correctness in present or past names is presumably important.

Bernard Vassallo

SWIEQI