Margaret Abela (born 14 March 1949) is the wife of the 8th President of the Republic of Malta,

George Abela George Abela, (born 22 April 1948) is a Maltese politician who was the eighth president of Malta from April 2009 to April 2014. Early life Abela was born in Qormi, Malta, to George and Ludgarda (née Debono) Abela. He attended the local primar ...

and hence served as First Lady of Malta during his tenure.

Education

She started her elementary education with the Franciscan nuns at the Pilar School 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 ...

, she completed her primary education at St. Elmo Primary School and her secondary education at Maria Assunta Secondary and Technical School in

Ħamrun Hamrun (; ) is a town in the Southern Region, Malta, 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 c ...

Early life

On completing her studies, she worked on a full-time basis in the administration department of the Old University of Malta in

, and later on at Tal-Qroqq, Msida. After she got married, she carried out administrative work at the ''Abela Advocates'' law firm run by her husband and subsequently also by her son,

Robert Abela Robert Abela (born 7 December 1977) is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as prime minister of Malta and leader of Labour Party since 2020. The son of former President George Abela, he was elected to Parliament in 2017. Abela was s ...

Personal life

She married George Abela on 23 May 1976 and had two children,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and Maria.

was sworn in as the 14th

Prime Minister of Malta The prime minister of Malta ( mt, Prim Ministru ta' Malta) is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The Prime Minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The Pr ...

on 13 January 2020.

Interests and social contributions

For years, she was socially involved in the

Tarxien Tarxien ( mt, Ħal Tarxien) is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Its population stood at 8583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestanding structur ...

Parish community, where she used to give catechism lessons to children preparing for their First

Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

Honours

Foreign honours

* : Recipient First Class of the

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana ( et, Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk, sometimes translated as the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of ...

(31.05.2012, seri
989
- n° 98)

References

1949 births Living people Spouses of presidents of Malta People from Valletta Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania {{Malta-bio-stub