Present Situation of Maltese of TunisAuthor: Jean Pierre Zammit (Hon. President “Amis De Malte”) Monsieur le Président de la République,
Messieurs les Membres du Gouvenement,
Messieurs les Membres de Dar l-Emigrant,
Monsieur l'Ambassadeur de Malte à Paris,
Mesdames, Messieurs. I am very pleased to be with you for a few days, as France is not a country of emigration for the Maltese, I don't have many opportunities to meet any outside Malta. At last I wish to thank Mr Pace and Mr Bussutil who have made possible my being here today. You have or are going to hear the story of the first emigrants of the beginning of the nineteenth century who left for a country not too far from their shores, North Africa, in order to have a better life, when Malta could not provide them with enough to survive. These first emigrants had settled in North Africa far before the French arrived in Algéria (1830) and in Tunisia (1881). This first generation of people had to work extremely hard as they often had large families to feed. They were hard-working, temperate, appreciated and integrated easily in the French community. Unfortunately, most of them were illiterate and it was difficult for them to keep in touch with their family left on the Island. They used to think and to tell about it, but children were born and grew up and looked toward the future. No looking back! The second generation used to hear about Malta, but their country was where they were born. School was compulsory until 12, and French was the only spoken language. One must also consider that marriages happened between people from different communities: French, Spanish, Italian, Greek. What was the spoken language in those mixed families, then? Maltese from the father or French from the mother? Spanish from the father or Maltese from the mother? As French school was the only one, everybody spoke French, with foreign words here and there. As children and young people communicated in French, Maltese was spoken within the family mostly. This second generation in Algeria who understood will speak it less and less. It will have become the old people's language. This will happen about two generations later in Tunisia. Consequently, from a generation to another it will only remain a few words, as saying, a nursery rhyme, a prayer.… (Santa Barbara la deni u la ¹sara). As I said before in Algéria this evolution progressed rapidly as it was a French idoni where systematic naturalisation took place in 1849. Where as in Tunisia, a protectorate nearer from Malta, evolution progressed slowly and naturalisation took place in 1921-1923. Consequently Tunisia's Maltese community had its own churches, sanctuaries, among which the replica of the Madonna tal-Mellie¹a, and its own community-halls for festivities. Even after they had become French, Maltese people were able to get together and use their language. Unfortunately most of them never got the chance of using books written in Maltese. In the 1880's a newspaper published by Dr Enrico Mizzi Strada Forni in Valletta was written in Italian, French and sometimes a few lines were in Maltese. It was released in Algéria, Tunisia and Trripolitaine, giving obituaries, sales of properties and research on inheritances. But it was not very popular and it did not last very long. The story of the descendants of Maltese emigrants does not end in North Africa: Algéria war followed by its independence as Tunisia's independence pushed out all the differents European communities from their native land during the dramatic years of 1961-1962. Nowadays great-grand-children live in France. Their culture and nationality are French and those with both Maltese parents are few. The integration of his European community should have appened without any problem thanks to being French Christian and having received an education based on republican principles. However mentalities and ways of life remain different in the north and the south of Mediterranée. They had to make considerable efforts and struggle in order to adapt and integrate. Fortunately, during the first year, they were helped by a strong feeling of solidarity and many associations set up. We descendants who lost twice our roots, felt the need to get together. I am myself, the Hon. President of the Amis de Malte. In our group, we have become grand-parents now and we realise that most of us keep rather vague or rare remembrances of our grand-parents' culture. Words, saying, recipes, a bit of a song come back to one's mind and one can say that the most remembered tale belongs to ©a¹an carrying the door of this house on his back. And moreover, everyone of us keep mind the raviolis, the ricotta-pies and pastizzi … Is that all what is left from our heritage? We are always happy to get back together just like a family, we understand each other easily and make friends quickly. We also note that we go to church more regularly than most communities of our generation. And most of all, we all keep a special place for a Malta in our heart. What do we do in our association? As per our statutes the aim of our association is to know and let people know about Malta. We hold meetings several time a year. With Malta's friends, sometimes we are 400 participants. Every year we organise a trip to Malta and we often had the honour of meeting the President. His Excellency the Ambassador of Malta in Paris accepted our invitation three times to come to Toulouse. Through our newspaper we give our members news from Malta, we tell them about the rich history of Maltese people and we remind people of its traditions. A few members got interested in a method for beginners to learn Maltese. We undertake records searches and genealogical researches which sometimes enable families to find relatives of the fourth and fifth degree. We were also pleased to help girl students of the Malta University who were doing a study on French people with a Maltese origin, this study being part of their diploma. We help in organising an exhibition at the “Alliance Française” on the St Laurent villages in France for the anniversary of the Vittoriosa church. We also helped another girl student to gather information on the writer Laurent Ropa. We also gave a hand to a university teacher to look for handwritten biography of Eugene Fenech who was doctor in Napoleon's armies who was born in Malta and died in Algéria. All these voluntarily activities are carried out by people over fifty, but up to now we are pleased to note that some young people have started “discovering” the country of their ancestors and have much curiosity and interest for Malta and Gozo. For us it is very rewarding and encourging, as despite time and distance we have kept indeniable ties with our origins and we hope that the many hardships suffered by our ancesters will remain in our memory and that we shall be grateful for their courage and sacrifice. Viva Malta u l-Maltin!
    
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