Ċensu Tabone | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait | |
| 4thPresident of Malta | |
| In office 4 April 1989 – 4 April 1994 | |
| Prime Minister | Eddie Fenech Adami |
| Preceded by | Paul Xuereb(Acting) Agatha Barbara |
| Succeeded by | Ugo Mifsud Bonnici |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Vincent Tabone (1913-03-30)30 March 1913 Victoria,Gozo,British Malta |
| Died | 14 March 2012(2012-03-14) (aged 98) St. Julian's,Malta |
| Resting place | Santa Maria Cemetery,Victoria, Gozo |
| Political party | Nationalist Party |
| Spouse | Maria Wirth (1941–2012; his death) |
| Children | 8 |
Vincent "Ċensu"Tabone,KUOM (Maltese pronunciation:[ˈt͡ʃɛn.sʊ]; 30 March 1913 – 14 March 2012) was the fourthpresident of Malta who also served as Minister andNationalist MP.
Vincent Tabone was the son of Niccolò and Elisa Tabone, the youngest of ten children. His paternal grandmother, Giuseppina De Gaetani, had settled inValletta in the mid-19th century fromRiposto,Sicily. His father, Niccolò, was one of the first Maltese doctors to read pathology and surgery in the United Kingdom, and served as a District Medical Officer in various parts ofGozo. Life on Gozo for the Tabone family was relatively quiet and pastoral. They lived inVictoria and spent their summers inMarsalforn.[citation needed]
Tabone's childhood was deeply affected by the sudden death of his father in 1922 at the age of 59. Two years later, at the age of 11, he was shipped off to Malta, where he became a boarder at St. Aloysius College, aJesuit school. He entered theUniversity of Malta in 1930, where he graduated as apharmacist in 1933 and as aDoctor of Medicine in 1937.
DuringWorld War II, he served as a Regimental Medical Officer and general duty officer with theRoyal Malta Artillery, and later as trainee ophthalmic specialist stationed at the Military Hospital,Mtarfa. In the early days of the War, he narrowly escaped tragedy when a bomb fell atFort Saint Elmo, demolishing a substantial part of the army barracks to which he had been posted. In 1946, he obtained a diploma inOphthalmology from theUniversity of Oxford, followed by a diploma in Ophthalmic Medicine and Surgery from theRoyal College of Surgeons of England. He was a clinical assistant atMoorfields Eye Hospital in London.[1]
In 1948, Tabone was entrusted with the supervision of a campaign to treattrachoma usingsulfonamide tablets and drops.[1] Through his efforts, the disease was virtually eliminated from the Island ofGozo. He helped launch similar campaigns inTaiwan,Indonesia andIraq under the auspices of theWorld Health Organization, and subsequently served as a member and consultant of the WHO's International Panel of Trachoma Experts.[citation needed]
He served on the Council of theUniversity of Malta, and between 1957 and 1960 he was a faculty member of the Board of Medicine, and a lecturer in Clinical Ophthalmology in the Department of Surgery. He helped found the Medical Association of Malta in 1954 and was for a time its Honorary President.[2] For many years, even as he served as a Member of Parliament, he maintained his medical practice inSliema.
Tabone was elected to the executive committee of theNationalist Party in 1961. He later served as the party's Secretary-General (1962–1972) and as Deputy Leader (1972–1977). Tabone was first elected toParliament in 1966 and subsequently served as a Member of Parliament for theSliema,St. Julian's,Msida, andGżira areas for 23 years. During this time, he also served as the Minister of Labour, Employment and Welfare (1966–1971) andMinister for Foreign Affairs (1987–1989). In 1968, Tabone brought a motion before theUnited Nations calling for an action plan in regard to the world's ageing population. In 1988, he brought another motion before the UN, calling for the world's climate to be declared the common heritage of mankind.[citation needed]
On 14 March 2012, Tabone died at his home inSt. Julian's, Malta at age 98.[3][4] He died 16 days shy of his 99th birthday.
On 23 November 1941, Tabone married Maria Wirth (9 February 1920 – 19 July 2018).[5][6][7][8]He was survived by his wife, eight children, 19 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. Ċensu and Maria Tabone had celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary not long before his death.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paul Xuereb (acting) | President of Malta 1989–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Queen (1964–1974) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| President (from 1974) | ||
*Acting President | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
