Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Alfredo Caruana Gatto (3 September 1868 – 15 October 1926) was a Maltese lawyer, politician and naturalist.
He was born on 3 September 1868 in
Valletta
Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...
to Antonio Caruana Gatto and Vincenza Formosa. He studied at the
University of Malta
The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
in 1892. He specialised in criminal law, and he was briefly appointed assistant crown advocate in 1901.
Caruana Gatto was an avid naturalist with a particular interest in botany and ornithology, and he was a member of the , the Société Botanique de Paris and the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
. He contributed to ''The Mediterranean Naturalist'' between 1891 and 1893, wrote a paper for the 1892 International Botanical Congress in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, and co-authored the 1915 book ''Flora melitensis nova'' with .
Caruana Gatto was a member of several government committees throughout his career. He later entered politics, joining the Maltese Political Union (UPM) party under the leadership of
Ignazio Panzavecchia Ignazio () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include:
Arts
*Ignazio Collino (1736–1793), Italian sculptor
*Ignazio Fresu (born 1957), Italian sculptor
*Ignazio Gardella (1905–1999), Italian architect and designer ...
. He was elected to the
Senate of Malta
The Senate ( mt, Senat) was the upper house of the Parliament of Malta between 1921 and 1933.1921 election, and he was Minister of Justice between 1921 and 1922. In 1926, he joined the Nationalist Party when the latter was formed from the merger of the UPM with the Democratic Nationalist Party. He remained a Senator until his death.
On 1 April 1926, Caruana Gatto allegedly purchased two sheets of a newly-issued postage stamp with a unique printing error which were then sold to speculators for a profit. He died a few months later on 15 October 1926 at the age of 58. A minor controversy later arose about how the stamps had been acquired, but the findings of a 1930 investigation on the matter by a government-appointed committee were inconclusive.