Editorial [Proceedings of history week 2011]

Abstract

Love or loath them, anniversaries tend to serve as useful focal points for reflection, generating all kinds of activities from publications to exhibitions. It was during a Committee meeting of the Malta Historical Society that Albert Ganado suggested that during History Week 2011 mention should be made of the fact that this coincided with the 450th year since the passing away of Jean Quintin d'Autun (often referred to simply as Quintinus), author of the renowned Insulae Melitae Descriptio (Lyons, 1536). The intention was to pay tribute to a man whose work — as the first published treatise on Malta — has been of significant influence in the centuries since its first appearance. Moreover, History Week and the published proceedings to which it bears fruit, follow in the footsteps of Quintinus in the sense that at its basis, History Week is about a quest for, and indeed a love of, knowledge and understanding in their widest possible forms. By a happy coincidence, 2011 also marked the 30th anniversary from the Proceedings of History Week 1981, the first to be published. Prior to this, there were History Weeks in 1979 and 1980, but due to financial constraints, these could not be published. Fortunately, the Proceedings of 1981 saw the light of day under the editorship of Mario Buhagiar, thereby instituting a tradition which has continued over three decades to bring together women and men interested in Malta's past with all its hues and complexities.