Joseph Anthony Buttigieg II (May 20, 1947 – January 27, 2019) was a Maltese-American literary scholar and translator. He served as William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

until his retirement in 2017, when he was named

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. Buttigieg co-translated and co-edited the three-volume English edition of Antonio Gramsci's ''

Prison Notebooks The ''Prison Notebooks'' ( it, Quaderni del carcere ) are a series of essays written by the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci was imprisoned by the Italian Fascist regime in 1926. The notebooks were written between 1929 and 1935, when Gr ...

''.

Early life and education

Buttigieg was the eldest of eight children born to Joseph Anthony and Maria Concetta Buttigieg (''née'' Portelli) in

Hamrun Hamrun (; ) is a town in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014. The people The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who carry a knife') or as '' ...

, Malta. He began his education in Hamrun, completing undergraduate work and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

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 ...

. He earned a second bachelor's degree, a B.Phil., from

Heythrop College Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with soc ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in English (1976; with a dissertation on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional al ...

'') from Binghamton University. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1979.

Career and personal life

Buttigieg taught at

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...

at Las Cruces starting in 1976 and there met Jennifer Anne Montgomery, also a new faculty member. In 1980, they married and also joined the faculty of Notre Dame. Their son, Pete Buttigieg, was elected as mayor of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

in 2012, ran for the Democratic nomination as presidential candidate in the 2020 election, and became the Secretary of Transportation under the

Biden Administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

. Pete said in his first book, ''

Shortest Way Home ''Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future'' is an autobiography by Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 2012 to 2020. The book was first published by Liveright Publishing in 2019. On July 8, ...

'', that his father was called racial slurs, even though he was European, because of his darker skin. Buttigieg specialized in modern European literature and

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

. He was translator and editor of the three-volume English edition of Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci's ''

'', published from 1992 to 2007 with support from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. He was a founding member and president of the International Gramsci Society, founded to facilitate communication between those who study Italian philosopher and politician Antonio Gramsci, one-time leader of the

Communist Party of Italy The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

. Buttigieg also served as chair of the English Department at Notre Dame and was promoted to William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English. He took emeritus status upon retiring in 2017. He died on January 27, 2019.

Bibliography

*''Criticism Without Boundaries: Directions and Crosscurrents in Postmodern Critical Theory'' (

University of Notre Dame Press The University of Notre Dame Press is a university press that is part of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The press was founded in 1949, and is the largest Catholic university Catholic higher education i ...

, 1987). *''A Portrait of the Artist in Different Perspective'' (

Ohio University Press Ohio University Press (OUP), founded in 1947, is the oldest and largest scholarly press in the state of Ohio. It is a department of Ohio University that publishes under its own name and the imprint Swallow Press. History The press publishes ap ...

, 1987). * ed. with Carmel Borg and Peter Mayo, ''Gramsci and Education'' ( Rowman & Littlefield, 2002). * ed. with Thomas Kselman, ''European Christian Democracy: Historical Legacies and Comparative Perspectives'' (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003). * ed. and trans. ''Prison Notebooks'' (vols. 1–3) by Antonio Gramsci (

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

, 1992–2007).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttigieg, Joseph 1947 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Maltese writers 20th-century translators 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American translators Alumni of Heythrop College University of Malta alumni American literary theorists Binghamton University alumni Italian–English translators American academics of English literature Maltese emigrants to the United States People from Ħamrun Naturalized citizens of the United States Pete Buttigieg University of Notre Dame faculty English-language writers from Malta Italian-language writers from Malta