On 19 May, Gozo lost a great gentleman whom throughout his life, strove to promote the academic, cultural, social and spiritual wellbeing of his fellow Gozitans.

A humble dockyard worker, Anton studied to become a teacher and succeeded in leaving his mark on Gozo's educational field. Always the innovator, he was instrumental in starting the teaching of several new subjects at the Gozo Technical Institute and Lyceum. Chemistry, electrical engineering, electronics and agriculture all owe their start to Anton, the dedicated teacher whose distinguishing feature was that of being able to communicate all of his knowledge to his students and to inspire them to continue with their studies. He himself never stopped studying and at the age of 72 he graduated Bachelor of Arts when this course started being offered at the Gozo branch of the University of Malta.

Anton immersed himself in many social, cultural and religious NGOs and whatever project he was involved in he carried out with energy and dedication, and continuously embarked on several new projects.

As an official of the Legion of Mary he gave birth to Vexillina, a bi-monthly magazine still being published today. The popular annual Festival Marjan was his brainchild. He also used to operate the Legion press and was in charge of the Philately Club.

As a committee member of the Leone Band Club, he founded the Aurora Youth Movement and the Aurora Folk Group - the first folk group in the Maltese Islands.

As a member of the parochial council of Gozo Cathedral, he was a co-founder of the Cathedral library and was a principal contributor to Radju Katidral in its early years. He taught numerous catechism classes and gave free tuition in different subjects to the youngsters of the community.

Anton was also active in the Gozo Scout Group and occupied the post of chairman for five years. He founded the Gozo Radio Amateurs Society and was the first person o the island to obtain a radio licence. He was a member of the Għaqda tal-Presepji; president of the girls' secondary school Agius de Soldanis for 10 years and for several years he served on the Kunsill Malti għall-Anzjani.

In 1982, Bishop Nikol Cauchi appointed him a lay minister of the Holy Eucharist.

In spite of all these commitments, Anton still found time to write several literary works, his best-known being the Ballata tal-Konvoj ta' Santa Marija which has been performed on various occasions. Another publication of his was the Quiż Storiku Reliġjuż - Anton was a well-known quizmaster of spiritual matters and organised numerous quizzes all over Gozo. He was also a guest speaker in many parishes, proficient in many subjects and much liked by his audiences.

In his lifetime, Anton received various tributes such as Ġieħ il-Parroċċa, Ġieħ iż-Żebbuġ, Ġieħ il-Belt Victoria and Ġieħ Għawdex (awarded by the Circolo Gozitano) but though he appreciated such honours he remained a very humble and unassuming man to the last. As a lifelong member of the MUSEUM, he subscribed to St George Preca's maxim of thinking about death on a daily basis in order to live a good life. To illustrate the unimportance of material goods, he used to tell his fellow workers at the Cathedral library where, as he grew older, he spent most of his day, that when he died he wanted them to hoist his shirt on a stick and say: "Anton Farrugia did not manage to take even this with him to the afterlife". That is true indeed with respect to worldly goods, but he surely managed to take with him his many good deeds and he also managed to leave Gozitan society much richer after his sojourn on this earth.

Frankie Masini Vento

Vice-President

Circolo Gozitano

Victoria