John Cremona
John J. Cremona | |
---|---|
Chief Justice of Malta | |
In office 1971–1981 | |
Prime Minister | Dom Mintoff |
Preceded by | Anthony Mamo |
Succeeded by | Carmelo Schembri |
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Malta | |
In office 1965–1992 | |
Preceded by | first judge from Malta |
Succeeded by | Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici |
Personal details | |
Born | Xagħra, Gozo | 6 January 1918
Died | 24 December 2020 | (aged 102)
Nationality | Malta |
Alma mater | Trieste, Malta, London, Rome Sapienza |
John Joseph Cremona
Early life
Cremona was born in
Legal career
In 1943, Cremona was
After Malta joined the Council of Europe in 1965, Cremona served as the country's first representative judge on the European Court of Human Rights for three consecutive terms, from 1965 to 1992. He was also the vice president of the court from 1986 to 1992.[5][6]
Public service
Beginning with the Constitution of 1959, Malta was granted greater home rule prior to independence through the creation of local legislative bodies. Cremona was a member of the Executive Council (1959–1962) and the Consultative Council (1962–1964).[2]
He was one of the original drafters of the 1964 Constitution of Malta, and represented the Maltese government at the Malta Independence Conference in London in 1963.[3]
After independence, Cremona advocated for the establishment of a native honours system, as Maltese citizens only had access to awards from the British Crown. He became the chair of the selection committee for the National Medal of Merit in 1967, which would be awarded through the Confederation of Voluntary Civic Committees. The first awards were conferred on 21 September 1968. Malta's Independence Day. Cremona later aided the government in establishing the Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika.[7]
In 1986, he became the chairman of the
Poetry
In the 1960s, Cremona served as Vice President of the International Poetry Society; Christopher Fry was the president at the time. Cecil Day-Lewis read one of Cremona's poems in a 1969 lecture at the Manoel Theatre, and Queen Elizabeth II read a commemorative poem by Cremona during the dedication of the Siege Bell Memorial in Valletta[2] in 1992.[8]
The English Association chose Cremona to be the Maltese contributor to their anthology Commonwealth Poems of Today (1967).[2] The composer Charles Camilleri used poems by Cremona as the text of the War Cantata (2002).[9]
Honours
Cremona was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.[3] He was President of the Alliance Française organization in Malta,[10] and a patron of the St Andrew Society (Malta).[11]
Among his decorations were Companion of the
Personal life
Cremona married Beatrice Crispo Barbaro (1927–2001) in 1949; they had two daughters and one son.[13]
Death
Cremona died at the age of 102 on Christmas Eve 2020.[14]
Partial bibliography
Poetry
Cremona wrote poems in Italian, English, and Maltese:[8]
- Eliotropi (1937, Italian)
- Songbook of the South (1940, English)
- Malta Malta (1992, English)
- Mas-Sebħ Għasafar (2004, Maltese)
- Ekwinozju (2006, Maltese)
- Poesie, Poems, Poeżiji (2009): poetry anthology covering all three languages
- Il-Kantiku tax-Xagħra (2012, Maltese)
- Poeżiji (2018, Maltese)
Law
- The Maltese Constitution and Constitutional History since 1813 (1st edition 1994,[15] 2nd edition 1997[16])
- Malta and Britain: the early constitutions (1996) [17]
References
- ^ "Former Chief Justice John J. Cremona turns 101 - TVM News". TVM English. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- ^ a b c d e f "Cremona, John Joseph". The National Archives of Malta. 2002. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d 1965 Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1967. pp. 42–46.
- ^ "Former Chief Justices". judiciary.mt. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- ^ "Country Fact Sheets 1959 - 2010" (PDF). European Court of Human Rights. p. 36.
- ISBN 978-1-906507-45-9.
- ^ Said, Frans H. (2021-01-02). "Appreciation: John J. Cremona: a chief justice and poet (1918-2020) (2)". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- ^ a b Briffa, Charles (2021-01-02). "Appreciation: John J. Cremona: a chief justice and poet (1918-2020) (1)". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- ^ Fenech, Gerald (2002). "Camilleri - War Cantata, Missa Melitensis". Classical Net. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ "JJ Cremona, the man who drafted Malta's constitution, dies aged 102". Times of Malta. 2020-12-26. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- ^ "St Andrew's Day Ball - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- ^ "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana". www.quirinale.it. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
- ^ "San Giorgio". santfournier.org. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- ^ Vella, Matthew (2020-12-26). "J.J. Cremona, chief justice emeritus who drafted Maltese Constitution, dies at 102". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
- ^ "Publications of President Dean Spielmann" (PDF). European Court of Human Rights. April 2015.
- OCLC 500000259.
- OCLC 41090559.