Portrait (2) : Sir Luigi Camilleri

Abstract

The tete-a-tete with the First World War left only transparent features of · heroic allegories on Sir Luigi, because he went to Gozo and became engaged to Erminia Call in 1912. He had finished his practice with Arturo Mercieca during the final year, and his career began to take definition and shape. Every fortnight he crossed to Malta and spent two days with his fiancee. He never missed a trip, summer or winter, even if the sea was agitated and the rugged, broken waves turned the shore into foam. At Ghajnsielem the boatman in his balcony waited for Sir Luigi and taking the long way crossed to Marfa, where a cab was always ready for him. Sundays were still precious, as he met new clients and collected fees. He invariably left Malta by the early boat at 5.15 a.m. Sir Luigi married a month after the declaration of the war. In 1914, on October 26th, the ceremony took place at St. Dominic Church Valletta at 8 p.m., since it was considered very English to get married in the afternoon. Father Eusebio Cali, a Capuchin who later became a Provincial and a cousin of the bride, celebrated the ceremony.