Anthony Darmenia, known and remembered as Nannu Twanny, was a Maltese pharmacist.

He is my grandfather.

He was born in Sliema, Malta, at 11:00 am on Tuesday 20 April 1915, son of Paolo Darmenia and Paola née Bonnici^{1 2}. They recorded his name as Antonio¹ since all Maltese state records were in Italian in those days.

His maternal grandfather Salvatore Bonnici was present at the birth and registered it two days later on Thursday 22 April 1915¹. The act entered the state registry on Tuesday 27 April 1915¹.

Eight days later, his parents baptised him in the Roman Catholic parish of Stella Maris². His paternal grandparents were his godparents². Reverend Father Amadeo Bonello² baptised him.

Family

On Thursday 25 November 1937 he married 27 year old Mary Carmela Felice from Hamrun^{3 4}.

The state certificate lists him as Anthony Mary⁴ as Malta had anglicised records by then. Church records list his name in Latin as Antonium Maria Darmenia³.

The Right Reverend Monsignor Canon Dean Di Albert Pantalleresco conducted the ceremony^{3 4}.

They married in the Oratory of the Assumption of Our Lady Annexed to the Gesu Church in Valletta⁴.

They registered the marriage on Thursday 02 December 1937⁴. It entered into the state records a week later on Thursday 09 December 1937⁴.

Together Anthony and Maria had seven children:

• Alfred
• Margaret
• Louise
• Marion
• Christine
• Simone
• Carole

Notable events

By the time Anthony married in 1937, he declared himself a resident of St Julians⁴. I have not yet found any record of when this move happened.

After marriage he moved to Balzan, Malta⁵. I have not yet found any record of when this move happened.

On 10 August 1940, a Mr Darmenia from Balzan donated 2 shillings and sixpence to the “Fighter ‘Plane” fund⁶. It is unclear if this was Anthony, or his father Paolo, who may have already been living in Balzan by then.

On 27 January 1952, Anthony bore witness at the wedding of Mr Carmel Borg of Sliema, to Miss May Pisani of Floriana⁷. The ceremony was at Sarria church, Floriana, and the reception was at the Hotel Phoenicia⁷. I am unaware of any family connection, but since Mr Borg was a fellow chemist, I conclude the two were good friends.

Professional life

Anthony was a dispensing chemist by the age of 22⁴.

He was the District Secretary for Balzan during World War II^{8 9}. He signed notifications carried by the Times informing the public of the following:

• Tuesday 13 August 1940: A notice to residents of Balzan that air-raid wardens will carry out instructions on how to fit gas masks⁸.
• Wednesday 16 October 1940: A demonstration, in Lija, of anti-gas respirator helmets for infants⁹.

By September 1943, Anthony was a chemist at the Medical and Health department¹⁰. On 28 September 1944, the department appointed Anthony as a Junior pharmacist¹¹. This post carried one year’s probation¹¹. Less than a year later, Malta’s Governor “confirmed Anthony as a Junior Chemist“¹².

Anthony received a British Council post-graduate scholarship for 1946-1947. Using this scholarship he studied pharmaceutics at the University of London¹³. He also gained valuable work experience at some of the best hospitals in the UK¹³.

In December 1948, the government appointed Anthony “Pharmacist and assistant Medical store keeper”¹³. On 6 October 1949, the Medical and Health department appointed Anthony as Chief Pharmacist and Medical storekeeper¹⁴. The Times of Malta reported this on 11 January 1950¹⁴.

The government appointed Anthony to the Medical Board in 1958¹⁵.

Malta Government Professional Officers’ Association

Anthony was the secretary for the Malta Government Professional Officers Association by 1952. In this role:

• On 4 December 1952, he penned a letter to the Times of Malta to clarify a point made by Prime Minister George Borg Olivier. In his speech, Borg Olivier suggested the association agreed with the government. Anthony’s letter clarified the association’s position.
• On 25 May 1954, he co-wrote an article to the Times of Malta to clarify a point raised in that year’s budget speech. The Minister of Finance had suggested professional officers had received a salary increase. Anthony rejected this, noting that no one had¹⁶.
• On 20 July 1954, he penned a letter to the Times of Malta about the government’s treatment of professional officers. Using the statistics office as an example, he expressed the association’s dismay at their treatment.¹⁷.
• On 4 July 1957, he attended a meeting with the Prime Minister at the Auberge d’Aragon¹⁸. At this meeting the association presented its desire to discuss wage and salary revisions, in light of the impending redundancies the British government was expected to announce¹⁸.

Chamber of Pharmacists

Between 1950 and 1954, Anthony was the President of the Chamber of Pharmacists. (In 1950, the President was a Mr Joseph Vassallo¹⁹)

• On Saturday 11 December 1954, he attended a lunch hosted by Mr G Cuschieri at the Royal Hotel in Attard. Anthony appealed to all pharmacists to support each other and their profession and called for the creation of a pharmacy board. The Times of Malta reported this the following Tuesday²⁰.

National association of pensioners

Later in life, Anthony became the president of the National Association of Pensioners²¹. He represented the association at the first World Assembly on Ageing in Vienna in 1982²¹. At this Assembly, he proposed a United Nations Institute on Ageing in Malta²¹. The Maltese government adopted this proposal as its own. The United Nations’ Institute opened its doors in Malta on 15 April 1988²¹.

Death

He died in Pietà, Malta at St Luke’s Hospital on Wednesday 08 October 1986 at 07:15^{5 22}. He died of cerebral arteriosclerosis⁵. His family filed this with the state on Thursday 30 October, which recorded his death a day later⁵.

His family buried him in the Maria Addolorata cemetery in Marsa, Malta^{5 22}.

In memoriam

At 18:30 on 12 October 2023, his family held a mass at the Balzan parish church in his memory²³.

Lineage

Anthony Darmenia is my grandfather.

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References

1. Act of Birth of Anthony Darmenia. (1915) [↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Certificate of Baptism. (1915). IX, p.310[↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Extract from the Marriage Records Held in the Collegiate and Parish Church Of St. Paul Shipwrecked – Valletta. (1937). pp.533–534[↩][↩][↩]
4. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; 1937-11-25[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. Act of death of Antoine Darmenia; 1986-10-30[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. “Fighter ‘Plane” fund, Malta; The Times of Malta; 1940-08-10[↩]
7. Wedding | Borg – Pisani’; The Times of Malta; 1952-01-31[↩][↩]
8. Notice to Balzan residents; The Times of Malta; 1940-08-13[↩][↩]
9. Anti-gas respirator helmets; The Times of Malta; 1940-10-16[↩][↩]
10. Obituary of Paolo Darmenia; The Times of Malta; 1943-09-13[↩]
11. Appointment; The Times of Malta; 1944-09-28[↩][↩]
12. Appointments; The Times of Malta; 1945-09-06[↩]
13. Medical appointment; The Times of Malta; 1948-12-15[↩][↩][↩]
14. Medical and health department; The Times of Malta; 1950-11-01[↩][↩]
15. Medical Board. (1958). The Times of Malta, [online] 30 Jan., p.11. Available at: www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 28 Jul. 2024][↩]
16. Professional Officer’s case; Mr Anthony M Darmenia; Dr F Pullicino; The Times of Malta; 1954-05-25[↩]
17. Professional officers; Mr Anthony M Darmenia; The Times of Malta; 1954-07-20[↩]
18. Staff Associations meet the Prime Minister. (n.d.). The Times of Malta, [online] p.3. Available at: www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 11 Jul. 2024][↩][↩]
19. Pharmacists of old; University of Malta; 1985 [↩]
20. Pharmacists at a luncheon; Times of Malta; 1954-12-14[↩]
21. Origins of INIA; Mr Joseph Scicluna; The Sunday Times of Malta; 2002-05-26[↩][↩][↩][↩]
22. Death certificate of Antoine Darmenia; Church archives; 1986-10-08[↩][↩]
23. Announcements – October 8, 2023; Times of Malta; 2023-10-08[↩]