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Famous
trade unionist and author Karmenu Ellul Galea dies aged 92
by Eman Bonnici
Wednesday, 31 January, 2007
http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=266810&pid=92
Karmenu Ellul Galea, Trade Unionist and Author died
at the venerable age of 92 at St. Luke's Hospital on
Monday, January 29, 2007
.
Born in Kalkara on
November 10, 1914
, Ellul Galea obtained his studies at the Government Schools of Zabbar,
Kalkara and Vittoriosa, where he later also attended Carmelo Schembri's
Private School. In 1930 he joined the Dockyard as a shipwright apprentice
and pursued further studies at the
Dockyard
Technical
College
. After becoming a journeyman in 1936 he was later promoted as a
shipwright liner and recorder of works when the Dockyard passed under the
Bailey's in 1959.
Upon his admission into the Dockyard, Ellul Galea joined the Dockyard
Apprentices and Ex-Apprentices Association of which he was elected as
Auditor in 1931. In the early months of 1937, he joined with the newly
born Dockyard and Imperial Workers'
Union
and was appointed its Assistant Secretary in 1942. During the Second World
War, Ellul Galea collaborated with others in the organization of the
Dockyard Apprentices and Ex-Apprentices Association. In 1942, he also
heartily heeded Reggie Miller's appeal for the launching of a new union -
the General Workers'
Union
. In May 1943, he addressed the Dockyard workers at its first grand
recruiting meeting and as a result his name became much associated with
the named
Union
. He also took part in the historical "Kantina" meeting which
was held on
October 4, 1943
in preparation for the following days' Msida meeting. Two weeks later he
was elected as Treasurer of the first GWU Admirality Section Executive
Committee and also as a member of the GWU National Council at its first
General Conference in 1943.
Ellul Galea was one of the main speakers during the first official public
meeting of the GWU which was held at Blata l-Bajda in December 1943. The
following years in July 1944, he was nominated as Assistant Editor of its
official organ, "The Torch" and member of its Press Board in
1945. During the first GWU Annual General Conference, Ellul Galea moved
that the
Union
should be apolitical. He later organized and founded the Xirka tal-Benefit
Scheme GWU and served as Editor and Literary Editor of "It-Torca"
between 1959 and 1962. He was also the GWU's public speaker on social
services; Delegate to the National Assembly between 1945 and 1947 and
Committee Member of the Metal Workers' Section. As from the early thirties
he was involved in politics through contributions to the Labour Press,
district committees and general elections.
Ellul Galea also took part in the re-organization of the Labour Party in
September 1944 and was elected on its executive committee. Following the
split of the party in October 1949, he sided with the leader, Sir Paul
Boffa and organized the Paola Committee of the Malta Workers' Party. He
was also a regular contributor of the Young Christian Workers' paper
"Il-Haddiem" and of "Il-Hajja". During the
mid-seventies, the Archbishop of
Malta
Mgr. Michael Gonzi appointed him as Member of the Editorial Board of the
latter paper. In the May Day Feast of 1932, his poem "L-Ewwel ta'
Mejju - Jum l-Ghaqda tal-Haddiema" won the prize of a literary
contest and in 1975 on the occasion of the feast of St. Joseph the Worker
he delivered a commemorative speech at St. John's Co-Cathedral in
Valletta.
Apart from numerous poems, Ellul Galea published several books including:
L-Istorja tat-Tarzna; Pijunieri tas-Sigurta' Socjali; Fratellanzi u
Xirkiet tas-Snajja'; L-Ghasfur tal-Genna u Hrejjef Ohra and his
masterpiece It-Trejdjunjonizmu f'Malta. He was a Member of the Akkademja
tal-Malti; Member of the Society of Maltese Folklore; Honorary Member of
the Committee of the Philharmonic Society De Paule, Paola; Member of the
Marian Culture Group; Vice-President of the Malta Band Clubs Association;
Member of the Society of Maltese Poets and Honorary President of St.
Michael's Band Club of Zabbar. On
December 13, 1999
, he was named as a Member of the National Order of Merit (M.O.M.,).
Karmenu Ellul Galea married Carmela nee' Chircop in the year 1940 who
predeceased him by five years. Together they had four children. Ellul
Galea's funeral was held at Christ the King's
Parish
Church
in Paola on
Wednesday, January 30 2007
, at
8.30am
. He was later interred in the family's grave at Zabbar's Cemetery.
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