Francis Ebejer

Francis Ebejer (August 28, 1925, Dingli — June 10, 1993, St. Julian's) was a Maltese dramatist and novelist. Ebejer studied medicine at the University of Malta between 1942 and 1943 before abandoning the course to work as an English-Italian interpreter with the 8th Army of the British Forces in Tripolitania, North Africa (1943–44). After the war he became a teacher and on completion of a course at St Mary's Training College, Twickenham, Middlesex (1948–50) he was appointed a primary school head teacher in Malta, a post he held till 1977.

Ebejer wrote seven full-length novels in English, and another one in Maltese, all published. His final novel, The Malta Baron and I Lucian was published in 2002, nine years after the author's death. It can be considered a twin of Requiem for a Malta Fascist (1980). Both novels treat of fascism and of the Second World War. The war dominated Ebejer all his life.

Other novels by Francis Ebejer are A Wreath of Maltese Innocents (1958), Wild Spell of Summer (1968), In the Eye of the Sun (1969), Come Again in Spring: Requiem for a Malta Fascist (1980), and Leap of Malta Dolphins (1982). He also wrote the Maltese rumanzett entitled Il-Ħarsa ta' Rużann. Several university students have written their theses for laureateships and doctorates in English on his works.

Ebejer was the leading Maltese dramatist of the second half of the 20th century, having written over fifty plays, the majority in Maltese, for the stage, television and radio, several of them recipients of literary and dramatic awards. In his groundbreaking plays he introduced a deep introspection of Maltese society, using an elegant style that proved him to be a master of the language.

Whilst in the fifties he wrote mostly for the radio, the sixties and the seventies saw the more mature Ebejer producing most of his stageplays for Malta's National Theatre, the Manoel Theatre in Valletta. His three great works, Vaganzi tas-Sajf (1962, Summer holidays), Boulevard (1964), and Menz (1967) were a great success and gave the public something that was lacking in Maltese society: intellectual drama.

Vaganzi tas-Sajf, a play in three Acts, is one his best known dramas, and has been translated into French, Italian and German, and published respectively in France, Italy, and Malta. Menz was performed in Spain, Tokyo and Venice.

Ebejer experimented much with the theatre. In Boulevard, for example, he experiments with the idea of the absurd, using language to smash the stability of tradition. Another concept he introduced in Malta is the thesis play. In Menz, for instance, he discusses the usefulness of individual freedom within a social system that imposes rigidity; in Vaganzi tas-Sajf man has to look for internal peace within the bounds of his own experience and maturity; and in L-Imwarrbin (1973, The Cliffhangers) he sets the past in confrontation with the present to reveal the workings of the individual conscience and makes use of the play-within-a-play technique to retain the link with reality.

Ebejer's characters reflect the flaws of the Maltese, as they search for identity, and cultural continuity, highlighting all the while how society and religion interlocks. Yet his plays also deal with the universal aspects of humanity. The universal is illustrated within the specific Maltese environment that serves to show that while life on tiny Malta is steeped in history, the island is nonetheless part of the modern world. Ebejer has always defined the Maltese as Mediterranean, and was concerned with the future of the Central Mediterranean region. A recurrent theme is the interaction of past and present as alternative glimpses into the future.

Francis Ebejer received many awards and titles in Malta and abroad for his literary works. He received the Malta Literary Award four times, the Phoenicia Cultural Trophy and the Cheyney Award. In 1985, the Municipality and University of the French city of Avignon awarded him La Medaille d'Honneur de la Ville d'Avignon in recognition of his contribution to literature and the theatre.

In 1961 Ebejer became a Fellow of the English Centre of International P.E.N. Between 1961 and 1962 he became a Fulbright Scholar (USA). He was also a member of the Academy of Maltese Writers and an Honorary Member of the Accademie de Vaucluse (France).

Francis Ebejer

Further reading