Fr. George Aquilina OFM, historian and archivist of the Maltese Franciscan Province, has just published a new biography of the Maltese Franciscan philantropist Fra Diego Bonanno (1831-1902). The new book is entitled: “Fra Diegu Bonanno: Il-Frangiskan li haseb fil-fqir u l-batut”.

This biography, published by P.E.G. Ltd of San Gwann, is a monumental historical achievement. Fr. George spent painstaking hours poring over archival documents in order to produce this book which is the first of its kind. It is true that other biographies of this Franciscan friar have already been published, but they were rather popular in their appeal and failed to provide a solid scientific basis for the facts they present.

The book intends to present the historical facts of the life of Fra Diego, founder of Saint Francis’ Institute (nowadays Fra Diego Institute) at Hamrun, on the occasion of the first centenary of the inauguration of the same institute in 1906, four years after Fra Diego had died. The copious documentary material offers precious information regarding the relations which Fra Diego had with his benefactors, and with the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus, who still live and work in the Institute. The information regarding the commissioning, work, and inauguration of the national monument to Fra Diego in Saint Paul’s Square, Hamrun, is also new.

The biography has the advantage of providing a simple narrative style for the avarage reader, and of being a source of further study for the scholar who would like to refer to the documentary material at the end of the book, as well as to the footnotes. It also provides an insight into the social and political framework in which Fra Diego worked for the benefit of prostitutes and abandoned children in nineteenth century Malta. The biography has a forward by the Minister Provincial of the Franciscans in Malta, Fr. Paul Galea OFM, who records the celebration of the first centenary of Fra Diego’s death and national funeral, organized by the Maltese Franciscan Province in front of the monument at Hamrun on 15 May 2002.