Anthony Spiteri the Custodian & the War

Lina Cardona née Spiteri spent five years during World War II actually living in the ‘Roman Villa Museum’, as it was known then. Her account is unique, giving a rare glimpse of one of Heritage Malta’s earliest sites. Interesting information is garnered during a time when there were no written Museum Annual Reports (MAR), between the years of 1940-45.

Nowadays, the Museum interpretation is reaching for a bigger set of questions and perspectives. Beyond the MAR, the focus is not just on the objects themselves but on larger themes that the objects, and sites themselves evoke.

The Anthony Spiteri persona

The Domvs Romana remained active in its service to the public and instrumental to support the then Museum’s Department to conserve our heritage, but the site was also home to the Spiteri family, namely Mr Anthony Spiteri, who gave over twenty years of his life as Assistant Custodian and Official Guide.1

Anthony Spiteri was born in Valletta in 1902 and although he initially started working in the catering business at the Osbourne Hotel at South Street, his passion for history and study attained him a custodianship with Heritage Malta, then the Museums Department. As an Assistant Custodian and Official Guide, he oversaw the daily running of the sites, as well as selling tickets. Spiteri attended school in Valletta, but he was an autodidact throughout his life, focusing primarily on history, archaeology, and languages. As a linguaphile, Spiteri was fluent in seven languages2 and used them whenever he could during his tours to communicate his beloved photographs and script images in this article are courtesy of Lina Cardona

Maltese history to the visitors. His daughter, Lina Cardona, fondly remembers her father studying late at night next to a kerosene lamp; his notes about historical sites, translated in many languages bear testament to his erudition.

A man of discipline, which is also reflected in his rigours of studying and family life, whichever historical site summoned him for his duty, Anthony took his family along with him. During the war, he was the custodian of the Rabat area, then comprising two sites: the St Paul’s Catacombs and the Domvs Romana, then known as the 'Roman Villa'. Although originally from Valletta, Lina’s family had moved to Floriana, and two years before the outbreak of WWII, the family moved from Floriana to Tarxien. It was from the latter town that the Spiteri family moved to Rabat in 1940, when Malta had instantly entered the war. Lina and her family had listened to Mussolini declare war on the radio a day prior to being officially announced in Malta. The following morning, her father left early for work, as he feared the public transport might be somewhat disrupted. He asked the then Director of Museums, Chev. H.P. Scicluna, that he needed to pick up his family to transfer them to Rabat. By three in the afternoon, Lina and her family had packed their belongings and headed to Rabat in a taxi, it would be five years later when they return to Tarxien.

Life at Rabat - the Museum residence

Prepared with his translated notes, Anthony was ready to head to the St Paul’s Catacombs and the Domvs Romana, the latter being their temporary residence. Anthony loved St Paul’s Catacombs, as did the young Lina. She remembers the kerosene cooking stove (spiritiera) at the ticket booth and enjoyed the site’s peach and prickly pear trees.

Yet war changed everybody’s prospects. Historic sites closed down, artefacts were damaged and underground sites, such as the catacombs, were used as air raid shelters. The Report on the Work of the Museum Department for 1946-47 by J.G. Baldacchino mentions that the Domvs Romana was “… closed to the public from September 1939 to April 1945 and its more important exhibits transferred to Saint Paul’s Catacombs and stored underground. The tessellated pavement of the impluvium was covered with soil and rubble to a depth of four feet as a protection against falling masonry.”3

On one particular occasion, Anthony happened to be inside St Paul’s Catacombs when enemy bombs dropped during an air raid. Parts of the catacomb gave way and Spiteri ended buried knee-deep in rubble. From that day on, he decided that his family would no longer shelter or sleep inside the catacombs. Instead, they took refuge from the bombing inside the shelter across the street from the Domvs Romana. He instructed a local carpenter to install bunk beds, where the parents slept at the bottom bunk and their four young daughters slept on top.

“The constant threat of aerial bombardment was part of daily life,” Lina admits, “nonetheless, Malta tried to regain a sense of normality.” Lina attended holy mass at Ta’ Duna chapel4 and continued her education at Rabat; not even air raids spared them from the English lessons which continued inside underground shelters. Across the Domvs Romana, Lina remembers that the farmers’ market gathered at the corner where the souvenir shop currently is. Further down, a Victory Kitchen stood instead of the restaurant, not far from St Margaret Cemetery, where refugees from Cottonera were temporarily housed. One cook from the Victory Kitchen, known as ‘Tal-beċċun’, became renowned for his baking and after the war he opened a confectionary shop at Lampuka Street in Tarxien. Lina also reminisced how “We accessed Mdina from Greek’s Gate, as it was closer to the Domvs. Some daily groceries could also be purchased from a small shop at the entrance of Mdina.”

The Spiteri family - recollections

Since the Domvs Romana became their home for the next five years, the Spiteri family became known through the byname ‘tal-Mużew’, which translates to ‘of the museum.’ Needless to say, Anthony was well-known in the area, as he was often sought after to write and read letters for the locals. Indeed, the Spiteri family were distinguished in many ways from the local Rabat population, since they were a family from Valletta who resided in a unique and comfortable living space, fitted with a telephone, a radio, and of course, they lived within the remains of a rich, aristocratic Roman townhouse. The family liked their life at Rabat and felt welcomed and accepted by the locals; so much so that it was with reluctance that they left for Tarxien after the war. “We had carried on with our life. I continued my schooling and used to stay at the Domvs – I had chores there,” Lina recalls, “And of course the mosaic! My father was adamant about this; he warned us never to step on the mosaic. Rest assured, we never did.”

Under the eyes of conservators and restorers, it would have been difficult for Lina and her sisters not to be caught misbehaving. The Domvs Romana was closed during WW II, and it became a restoration centre before reopening to the public in 1945. Cassar (2000) states that over the period of two and half years, there were over 3,000 air raid alerts with more than 14,000 tons of bombs dropped.5 War revealed that many works of art and architecture were in a poor state. Between 1939-47 over four hundred paintings were restored, and between 1948-50 a further fifty-two paintings were restored. As witnessed by the young Lina, she remembers some of the restorers, such as Sir Temi Zammit’s son, Charles, and the sculptor, Antonio Sciortino, then the curator of the Malta Museum of Fine Arts. Even as a young child, Lina observed that although advanced in years, Sciortino, with his hallmark pencil moustache and fondness for hats, still looked like a professional and remained a dedicated curator.

Most of the paintings damaged during the war which were transferred to the Domvs Romana were small or medium-sized, but Lina remembers one of the large format paintings: the altarpiece of Our Lady of Liesse and the Three Knights from Our Lady of Liesse Church in Valletta, which measured 75 inches by 121 inches6 as the church was badly damaged by the German bombing in 1942. The altarpiece, depicting Our Lady of Liesse with Child is an 18th-century oil painting by Enrico Arnaud, which Lina remembers being restored at the Domvs Romana. It was a lengthy process, she recalls, where the tears were filled with woven fabric, and starch with flour were used instead of glue, as it was sparse. Many paintings were relined and the altarpiece7 was stripped of its old relining canvas to be cleaned of the old glue, mended, and re-used again for the relining of the same painting. “It was a painstaking work, and some of the restorers used to stop often for breaks,” Lina recollects, “but the moment they saw Sciortino coming their way, they used to scurry back to their work!”

Lina also remembers her father mentioning and working with Captain Olof Frederick Gollcher, a shipping magnate, perhaps best known as the owner of Palazzo Falson and a scrupulous collector of historical objects. Palazzo Falson was not only his home but also a setting for his works of art and antique collection. Although Lina never met Gollcher himself, she does remember that her father was often invited to Gollcher’s soirées, as Spiteri’s catering background and historic knowledge were an ideal blend for Gollcher’s social gatherings.

Her fondest memory of the Gollcher family is, however, that of Olof’s wife, Vincenza. “My sister, Margaret, was very young at the time and she was left at the Domvs unattended, as my mother and father were managing a large tour at the museum.” Little Margaret found a box of matches and unwittingly set a small doll on fire, which happened to be placed in the wardrobe. It was the Cottonera refugees, temporarily residing across the street, who first came to her aide as the wardrobe, along with all the clothing, burnt to ashes. When Vincenza Gollcher heard of the incident, she donated clothes to the Spiteri family, “I remember a particular Air Force blue coat and sheer, georgette dresses with white flowers.” recalls Lina, “We were very grateful for her kindness.”

Besides the locals, the Spiteri family encountered British troops and their families stationed on the island. “It was they who usually requested a tour,” Lina explains, “Of course, my father was always happy to oblige and from the Domvs, they walked towards St Paul’s Catacombs even if the museums were at the time closed to the public.”8 Although they usually had no problems with the military, on one occasion Lina recalls a frightful incident. It was late at night when they were woken by loud thumping at the Domvs Romana doors. She recalls how “Someone was kicking at the doors, yelling rude expletives as they rapped on the windows, wanting to break inside.”

Terrified, they phoned the police who swiftly arrived on site. The police found some young soldiers, clearly inebriated, who for some reason decided to break inside the Domvs Romana. “The police were aggressive with them,” Lina continues, “in fact, my mother, Carmela, who was the one who had phoned the police, begged them to stop harassing the soldiers.”

Ironically, the ending of the war was bittersweet for the Spiteri family, as after the war in 1945, they were asked to leave the Domvs as it was once again reopening for the general public. The family returned to Tarxien, where Anthony resumed his work as a custodian and guide at Tarxien Temples, until he retired in 1962. Yet, his tour guiding was not over, as he often took Lina’s children to his beloved temples where he encouraged them to play and roam about. “And then, he would bring them home covered in dirt,” Lina recollected, “Imagine my dismay! But he would tell me, they were just having a bit of fun. After all, we used to do the same at the Domvs. My father wanted to share history with everyone.”

Conclusion

Anthony Spiteri loved his career, which is evident in how he had perused it with determination and turned it into his lifelong study. Thankfully, his dedication was acknowledged. After his retirement, the Museums Department had requested that he would continue to work with them. Sadly though, it was short-lived. On 5 October 1966, at 4.00 pm, Anthony Spiteri left the National Museum of Archaeology after a day’s work. Carrying his usual load of books, he slipped at Melita Street and tragically slammed his head against a wall. He was found concussed by a judicial clerk, who immediately recognised him and rushed to the National Museum urging them to telephone the ambulance. Twelve hours later, he was declared dead; he was 64 years old.

Anthony Spiteri’s legacy did not end there, his life and work are commemorated in one of the interpretations at the Domvs Romana, along with the stories from Ancient Rome, curators and conservators who had animated the archaeological site. As a museum, the Domvs Romana emphasises categories and historical periods, but its interpretation also focuses on human experiences. As exemplified by Anthony Spiteri’s story, the Domvs Romana explores the long and complex history of the Domvs’ human relationship with the world beyond its gates, although the museum may still be regarded as just one institution, among many, receptive to this kind of investigation.

Notes and References

1 C. Zammit, ‘Report of the Working of the Museum Department for the year 1964’, “The only other change in the complement of the Museum occurred at the end of August with the retirement of the service of Mr A. Spiteri after over twenty years as Assistant Custodian and Official Guide. The vacancy was filled by public competition and Mr F. Borg was engaged in the same capacity as from September 1.”, printed at the Department of Information, Malta, 1963, pp.2.

2 Languages included: English, German, Maltese, Italian, Latin, French and Arabic.

3 Annual Report of the Work of the Museum Department for 1946-47, by J.G. Baldacchino.

4 Built in 1658 Ta’ Duna Chapel in Rabat is dedicated to St Mary and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. ‘Ta’ Duna’ is the Maltese dialect for ‘ta’ doni’, i.e. ‘of the gifts’.

5 Cassar Charles, A Concise History of Malta, 2000, p.225, and Zarb-Dimech Anthony, Taking cover: a history of air-raid shelters: Malta, 1940-1943, 2001, p.7.

6 National Museum of Fine Arts Archives, ‘List of pictures restored at the Rabat Museum 1 June 1942’

7 Anthony Spagnol, The conservation of the Artistic patrimony in Malta during WWII, 2009, Heritage Malta, pp.34-5.

8 From the beginning of April to 31 March 1946 and from the beginning of April to March 1947, Domvs Romana amounted to 1698 and 1476 visitors respectively, while St Paul’s Catacombs amounted to 3706 and 1567 visitors respectively, Annual Report of the Work of the Museum Department for 1946-47.

James Aquilina