SIR UGO P. MIFSUD: PRIME MINISTER OF MALTA (1924
- 1927) (1932 - 1933)
Sir Ugo P. Mifsud was born in Valletta on 12 September 1889.
He pursued his studies at the Lyceum and at the Royal
University of Malta from where he gratuated as a Lawyer in
1910. He had a very successful career at the Bar. He
contributed papers on international law to leading legal
journals, including the London International Law Notes. He was
appointed a Member of the International Law Association, set
up in Brussels and took an active part in the bi-annual
conferences which discussed problems related to international
law.
In 1928, he presided over the aerial and radio law
committee at a conference in Warsaw; and in 1934 he presided
the Trade Marks Committee at a conference in Budapest. At a
conference held in Oxford in 1932, he eas elected member of
the executive committee and vice president. In 1928, he
represented Malta at a conference convened in Canada by the
Empire Parliamentary Association. Mifsud was Knighted in 1927.
Sir Ugo was elected Secretary of the initial sittings of
the National Assembly after Sir Filippo Sciberras had rallied
the Assembly to draft a Constitution for submission to the
British Government. In 1921, under the Amery-Milner
Constitution, Sir Ugo successfully contested the elections as
a candidate of the Unione Popolare Maltese (UPM) for the
Legislative Assembly. In 1924 Sir Ugo became the youngest
Prime Minister in the British Empire.
After the merger in 1926 between the UPM and Dr. Enrico
Mizzi's PDN, Sir Ugo became co-leader with Dr. Mizzi of the
newly formed Partito Nazionalista (PN). He was re-elected in
1927 and again in the PN landslide victory of 1932, when he
held the office of Prime Minister up to 1933, when the 1921
Constitution was withdrawn. In 1932 he formed part of a
government delegation to London which submitted to the
secretary of state for the colonies, Sir Philip Cunliffe
Lister, a Memorandum with a formal request for Malta to be
placed under the Dominium Office as an Independent Member of
the Commonwealth.
Sir Ugo held several portfolios: Minister of Finance
(1924-26), Minister of Justice (1926-27, 1932-33), Minister
for Industry and Commerce (1921-24, 1932-33), Minister for
Posts (1921-22, 1923-24), Minister for Agriculture and
Fisheries (1921-22, 1923-24).
In 1939 Sir Ugo Mifsud was elected Member of the Council of
Government. On 9 February 1942 as the Council was debating, as
a matter of urgency, the British Government's intention to
deport several Maltese citizens, Sir Ugo suffered a heart
attack as he was delivering a stirring and impassionate speech
against the government's intention. Two days later he passed
away. He is buried at the Lija cemetery.
Sir Ugo Mifsud was married to Maria Beatrice Francia in
1928. On the 21st Anniversary of his death a marble monument
at Floriana was erected to his memory.
