Malta - Valletta - Triq Girolamo Cassar - Herbert Ganado Gardens 04 ies

Herbert Ganado (7 April 1906 – 8 April 1979) was a Maltese lawyer, president of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...

, editor, politician and author. Born in Floriana on 7 April 1906 on the island of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Ganado studied at the Lyceum and

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 ...

and graduated as a lawyer in 1931. He was active at university, being President of the University Students' Council (KSU), and shortly after became president of the lay movement, Catholic Action. In 1933 he was appointed the third editor of the newspaper ''Lehen is-Sewwa'', the voice of Catholic Action. Ganado succeeded in steering the paper through turbulent times preceding the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and not only converted Lehen is-Sewwa into a daily paper, but also gave it a new look. He widened its scope by covering a wider range of subjects and made it a means for the promotion and dissemination of

Catholic culture Christian culture generally includes all the cultural practices which have developed around the religion of Christianity. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has i ...

with a broad view on all religious, social, cultural and even political spheres of Maltese society set within a global context. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

Ganado wrote several articles in support of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

. In 1939 he was interned without trial by the

British colonial The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

authorities for his suspected sympathy with the Italian government of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

and the Italian fascists. He was subsequently exiled with a number of Maltese nationals to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Ganado later remarked that a positive aspect of the war was showing the importance of women and directly led to

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

in Malta in 1947, followed by women being allowed to stand for public office. After the war he was released, and led a splinter group from the Nationalist Party to form the Democratic Nationalist Party (Partit Demokratiku Nazzjonalista). However, this was short lived and ultimately unsuccessful in political terms. He married Alda née Randon and they had five children together, one of whom died shortly after his birth. One of his close friends since his days at university in the 1920s was the

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

Maltese lawyer, Joseph Flores: indeed it has been suggested that Ganado and Flores may have been romantically involved. However, Flores became a member of the

Malta Labour Party The Labour Party ( mt, Partit Laburista, PL), formerly known as the Malta Labour Party ( mt, Partit tal-Ħaddiema, MLP), is one of the two major political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party. It sits on the centre-left of the po ...

(MLP) under the leadership of

Dom Mintoff Dominic Mintoff, ( mt, Duminku Mintoff, ; often called ''il-Perit'', "the Architect"; 6 August 1916 – 20 August 2012) was a Maltese Socialist politician, architect, and civil engineer who was leader of the Labour Party from 1949 to 198 ...

in the 1950s at the time when Ganado was openly opposed to Mintoff's policy of Integration with Britain. Flores, eventually resigned from the MLP and was made a judge. His best known literary work is his 4 volume memoirs, ''Rajt Malta Tinbidel''.Herbert Ganado, Rajt Malta Tinbidel, 4 Volumi(1977) This work was translated into the English language by another well known Maltese lawyer politician Dr. Michael A. Refalo and titled "My Century". Herbert Ganado Gardens in Floriana are named after him. He died on 8 April 1979, a day after his 73rd birthday, and was interred at Santa Maria Addolorata cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganado, Herbert Leaders of political parties in Malta University of Malta alumni 1906 births Gay politicians LGBT conservatism Maltese LGBT politicians Maltese gay men 1979 deaths People from Floriana 20th-century Maltese politicians Burials at Addolorata Cemetery, Paola 20th-century Maltese LGBT people

See also

References