History
Efforts to establish a national archive began in 1971, when a Committee on the Preservation of Public Records was established by Guze’ Cassar Pullicino. One year later, in 1972, a section of Malta's public records at Casa Leone was opened up to the public and research facilities were provided for the public's use. Initially under the oversight of Malta's Ministry for Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Archives moved to the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta, the home of the House of Representatives of Malta, within a few months. At that point, the government official in charge of the Archives was Michael Ellul.
In January 1986, a governmental committee was established to discuss options for the management of Malta's public records. It was decided that a stand-alone National Archives of Malta would be established, to be headquartered in Rabat in a building that once housed a hospital. In addition, a building in Mdina was identified as suitable to house the records of Malta's courts from the beginning of the occupation of Malta by the Knights Hospitaller to the early period of occupation by the United Kingdom. In September 1987, the transfer of court records to the Mdina building began and was completed in October 1988. The transfer of all other records to the Rabat facility was not completed until July 28, 1989, and the official opening of the building did not occur until May 28, 1994, when Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, the fifth President of Malta, presided over the opening. At that time, the officer in charge was Joe Caruana.
The first regulating Act for the National Archives of Malta was Act IV, passed in 1990. Catalogues were published on CD-ROM, an annual lecture was established and an exhibition centre was opened. In 2005, Act V came into force, creating the post of National Archivist (currently Charles J. Farrugia) and created the National Archives as a legal person under the Government of Malta's umbrella. Since its opening, the National Archives have opened up three new facilities.
Read more about this topic: National Archives Of Malta
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