The funeral of Professor Oliver Friggieri will be organised by the government, a statement issued by the DOI said Sunday.

Friggieri, regarded as one of the greatest contributors to Maltese literary heritage and the Maltese language, passed away on Saturday at the age of 73.

In a statement, the government said that in recognition of the extraordinary contribution that he had given to the country throughout his career, the state will be organising his funeral.

“Professor Friggieri was not only a prolific writer who was one of the best, and a giant in Maltese literature, but his translated works also obtained recognition at an international level”, the government said.

The government said that the office of the Prime Minister had met with Friggieri’s family for the necessary arrangements to be made for the organization of the funeral.

The exact date of the funeral will be announced later on.

Friggieri taught Maltese and philosophy in secondary schools before being appointed assistant lecturer and later lecturer at the University. He was nominated associate professor and became head of the Department of Maltese in 1988 and full professor in 1990.

Friggieri was awarded various prizes and awards, both in Malta and in Italy.

In 2003, he was awarded the gold medal of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in recognition for his outstanding contribution to Maltese culture. He was also awarded the Premio Internazionale Trieste Poesia, granted to writers for the contribution to poetry.

He translated works from Latin, Italian and English, and was a regular contributor to Il-Mument and presenter of radio programmes.

He organised the first ever national congress on Maltese culture in 1989, wrote the first Oratorio in Maltese in 1985 as well as the first cantata in Maltese in 1989.

He edited and co-edited various anthologies and many of his works were translated into 16 foreign languages, including English, Italian, French, Urdu, Greek, Macedonian and Romanian.

He has contributed many critical works dealing with literary theory, critical studies, stylistic analysis and literary biographies.

He has also published several poetry books, short stories and other literature, among which "Fil-Parlament ma jikbrux fjuri".