Mamo, Sir Anthony Joseph

▪ 2009

      Maltese jurist and statesman

born Jan. 9, 1909, Birkirkara, Malta

died May 1, 2008, Mosta, Malta

was the first president (1974–76) of the independent Republic of Malta and came to be regarded as a symbol of the new country. Mamo obtained (1934) a degree in law from the University of Malta and later was a criminal law professor (1943–57) there. He devoted most of his life to the public sector, however, serving as a member of the commission (1936–42) that revised Malta's legal code, a crown counsel (1942–51) in the attorney general's office, deputy attorney general (1951–55), attorney general (1955–57), and chief justice and president of the Constitutional Court (1957–71) before being sworn in as governor-general on July 4, 1971. As the crown colony's last governor-general, he was named to the largely ceremonial post of president on Dec. 13, 1974, when the island country gained its formal independence from the U.K. Mamo was made OBE in 1955, knighted in 1960 and created a Companion of Honour in the National Order of Merit in 1990.

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