Enrico Dandria: a priest and a politician

Given that both the name and the surname – Enrico Dandira - sound very Italian, one might easily allow his imagination travel to nearby Italy, the country with which our native island has an ancient connection. This would not be a futile exercise because even though Enrico Dandria was Maltese, there is so much that connects him with the land that was once described by our national poet as ‘ poeżija’.

Monsignor Enrico Dandria was no poet; however his influence in both the political and the religious aspects of early twentieth century Malta cannot be overestimated enough. His name is connected with Maltese social life in such a way that the researcher who makes it his duty to study colonial Malta in the first decades of the 20th century would definitely have to stop and think before realizing the role that Dandria and other Maltese clergyman had in Malta’s journey to independence. In order to perceive Dandria in the right background, one has to keep in mind that the man lived only for about four decades. Enrico Dandria was born on the 14th of June 1892 and died on the 3rd of July 1932; when he passed away, he had just turned 42. Despite what may be considered a relatively short life, Dandria managed to leave his imprint on the Maltese mind set. Born in Valletta within an important family, he was ordained a priest in 1915 when he was only 23 years old. Considering the fact that canon law requires a candidate for the priesthood to be at least 25 years old, Dandria was given special permission to become a priest at so young an age. This did not present a problem because he had already shown signs of outstanding intelligence and his oratory made him a renowned preacher in a very short time. His maternal grandfather was none other than Maltese reformer Sigismondo Savona; among his illustrious forebears one finds George Mitrovich and William Savona, the latter being an uncle of his. What makes Enrico Dandria more interesting is the fact that although he was descended from the Savonas on his mother side – they being forerunners and founding fathers of what was to become the Maltese Labour Party – Enrico entered the Maltese political scene in the interests of the UPM or the Unione Politica Maltese. He did this when he contested the 1921 and the 1924 general elections for the legislative assembly and in 1923 he was appointed minister of education, a post that he held till 1927. Looking a posteriori it may seem quite strange that priests entered politics but one has to understand the sociopolitical milieu of the time; it was Italian Roman Catholic priest Don Luigi Sturzo from nearby Sicily who at one point founded the Partito Popolare Italiano and is now considered as one of the fathers of the Christian democratic platform. There is no doubt that Sicily being so near to Malta, the young Dandria was influenced by the thought and writings of the Italian priest from Caltagirone. Max Farrugia’s Enrico Dandria. Qassis Politiku Patrijott is not merely a detailed biography of the priest who became a beloved politician and a much admired patriot. Farrugia’s opus is in fact the study of an era. The timeframe in which Dandria was born, lived, worked and died was a very peculiar one; it provided the stage for such great Maltese statesmen as Fortunato Mizzi, founder of the Partito Nazionale known simply as the Pater Patria as well the controversial Lord Gerald Strickland who served the interests of the empire and then become founder of the Constitutional Party and Prime Minister of Malta. Moreover, this was the period in which the basis for Malta’s educational system was being forged and Dandria was one the main protagonists. Farrugia’s monumental biography of Enrico Dandria is written is interesting as much as it is captivating because it reflects the pa- triotic love that Dandria had for all that was Maltese at a time when Malta was not ruled by men of its own. His love for Church, country and education has rendered his name immortal and should make every Maltese citizen proud and grateful at the same time.

Enrico Dandria. Qassis Politiku Patrijott published by Kite Group was launched by HE the Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna at the Old Refectory, at the Archbishop’s Curia.

Max Farrugia