Isabelle Barratt-Delia (née Gulia; born 1938) is the first recorded female

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Barratt-Delia was born in

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 ...

in 1938. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart,

St Julian's Saint Julian's ( mt, San Ġiljan) is a town in the Central Region of Malta. As of 2020, its registered number of inhabitants stands at 13,792. It is situated along the coast, north of the country's capital, Valletta. It is known for tourism-or ...

. In 1961, she graduated as an

and

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

from the Royal University of Malta 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 ...

, now known as 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 ...

Career

Barratt-Delia worked at

Mortimer and de Giorgio Roger de Giorgio (Milan, Italy 29 December 1922 – Malta 5 February 2016) was a Maltese architect and a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Royal Historic Society. Biography In Milan, he attended Carlo Pisacane School. He st ...

Architects for a short period of time, before leaving for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She worked for the Canadian Exhibition Commission between 1962 and 1964 and participated in fairs in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Personal life

Barratt-Delia met Peter Barratt, an architect and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

, while working at

Architects. They married in 1961 and moved to

References

1938 births 20th-century Maltese architects Women architects Maltese emigrants to Canada Living people {{Malta-bio-stub