The pharmacist Clemente Mifsud Bonnici and his views of the Plague of 1813

Abstract

Plague has been no stranger to the Maltese Islands since at least the 13th century. In fact it visited us no less than sixteen times from 1270 to 1945 - the last epidemic on record. The most severe outbreak - in terms of mortality - was that of 1675-6 with 8,569 to 11,300 deaths. The second largest was that of 1813 with 4,676 fatalities. An unpublished account of the 1813 plague comes from the pen of the pharmacist Clemente Mifsud Bonnici who lived through it.