MALTESE HERSTORY: Agatha Barbara Was A Socialist Force That Smashed Ceilings For Women In Politics
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Malta is currently debating a bill to address its depressingly low rates of women in political power. It’s almost unbelievable that some forty years ago, this little infant Republic had its own female Head of State – a force that smashed political ceilings for women everywhere.
Her name was Agatha Barbara, the first woman President, Parliamentarian, Minister and even interim Prime Minister in Malta. While her political ties may no doubt carry divided opinions, the achievements she heralded for women on the islands are hardly disputable.
So, while most people say
ħabel tal-inxir (clothes line), some in Gozo say
perċa while others in Siġġiewi and Mosta say
manxar or
manxra.
These and other lexical curiosities are being documented by a team of lecturers and researchers at the University of Malta and will feature in an online portal that should go live in the first quarter of this year.
This “one-stop-shop website” will also map dialects sourced from various localities in Malta and Gozo, some of which were recorded 50 years ago by a team led by professor Ġużè Aquilina and University of Leeds scholar Benedikt Isserlin.