Maria Felice fondly remembered as Mamia, is my maternal grandmother.

She was born at 16:00 on Wednesday 18 May 1910 in Hamrun, Malta¹. She is the daughter of Giuseppe Felice and Florentina Farrugia Gay². Her state birth certificate lists her as “Maria”³ but later certificates state her name as “Maria Carmela”.

Her father registered the birth on 25 May 1910⁴ and the civil service recorded it 6 days later⁵.

Family

On Thursday 25 November 1937 she married 22 year old Anthony Darmenia from St Julians^{6 7}.

The Right Reverend Monsignor Canon Dean Di Albert Pantalleresco conducted the ceremony^{8 9}.

They married in the Oratory of the Assumption of Our Lady Annexed to the Gesu Church in Valletta¹⁰.

They registered the marriage on Thursday 02 December 1937¹¹. It entered into the state records a week later on Thursday 09 December 1937¹².

Together Anthony and Maria had seven children:

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

Notable events

After marriage they moved to Balzan, Malta¹³. I have not yet found any record of when this move happened.

On 27 January 1952, her husband Anthony bore witness at the wedding of Mr Carmel Borg of Sliema, to Miss May Pisani of Floriana¹⁴. The ceremony was at Sarria church, Floriana, and the reception was at the Hotel Phoenicia¹⁵. I am unaware of any family connection, but since Mr Borg was a chemist, like Anthony, I conclude the two were good friends.

On Monday 23 April 1962, Maria took part in the Malta table-tennis championships at the Floriana government school¹⁶. She lost to a Mrs Curmi at the Ladies Singles Championships 21-11; 21-10; 21-9¹⁷.

On 18 May 1963, Maria and Anthony were guests at a cocktail party hosted by Professor Semple, of the Royal Society of Health¹⁸. This was at the Green Lounge of the Phoenicia Hotel¹⁹.

On Thursday 5 May 1966, Maria accompanied her husband to a reception at the Royal University hosted by the Council of the European Movement to mark Europe Day²⁰

Just after Christmas 1973²¹, she accompanied her husband Anthony²² to the Malta Union of Pharmacists’ annual dinner²³ at the Corinthia Hotel²⁴ in Attard, Malta. This was reported on Sunday 30 December in the Times of Malta²⁵.

Death

She died at 18:00²⁶ on 23 July 1991²⁷ at St Luke’s hospital in Pieta, Malta²⁸ of disseminated carcinomas. Her family recorded this with the state on 20 August 1991, which filed the data in the state records on 5 September²⁹.

Her family buried her at the Addolorata cemetery in Marsa, Malta³⁰.

References

1. Act of birth of Maria Felice. (1910) [↩]
2. Act of birth of Maria Felice. (1910) [↩]
3. Act of birth of Maria Felice. (1910) [↩]
4. Act of birth of Maria Felice. (1910) [↩]
5. Act of birth of Maria Felice. (1910) [↩]
6. Extract from the Marriage Records Held in the Collegiate and Parish Church Of St. Paul Shipwrecked – Valletta. (1937). pp.533–534[↩]
7. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; (1937) [↩]
8. Extract from the Marriage Records Held in the Collegiate and Parish Church Of St. Paul Shipwrecked – Valletta. (1937). pp.533–534[↩]
9. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; (1937) [↩]
10. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; (1937) [↩]
11. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; (1937) [↩]
12. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; (1937) [↩]
13. Act of Death of Maria Darmenia; (1991) [↩]
14. Wedding Borg-Pisani. (1952). The Times of Malta, [online] 31 Jan., p.9. Available at: www.timesofmalta.com[↩]
15. Wedding Borg-Pisani. (1952). The Times of Malta, [online] 31 Jan., p.9. Available at: www.timesofmalta.com[↩]
16. Malta Table Tennis Championship. (1962). The Times of Malta. [online] 25 Apr. Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 21 Mar. 2025][↩]
17. Malta Table Tennis Championship. (1962). The Times of Malta. [online] 25 Apr. Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 21 Mar. 2025][↩]
18. Heard in the Hive. (1963). The Times of Malta, [online] 19 May, p.14. Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 31 Jan. 2025][↩]
19. Heard in the Hive. (1963). The Times of Malta, [online] 19 May, p.14. Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 31 Jan. 2025][↩]
20. Bee (1966). Heard in the Hive. The Times of Malta, [online] 8 May, p.12. Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com [Accessed 18 Apr. 2025][↩]
21. Bee (1973) Heard in the Hive. The Times of Malta. 30 December; Page 20. [online]. Available from: https://www.timesofmalta.com (Accessed 9 January 2026).[↩]
22. Bee (1973) Heard in the Hive. The Times of Malta. 30 December; Page 20. [online]. Available from: https://www.timesofmalta.com (Accessed 9 January 2026).[↩]
23. Bee (1973) Heard in the Hive. The Times of Malta. 30 December; Page 20. [online]. Available from: https://www.timesofmalta.com (Accessed 9 January 2026).[↩]
24. Bee (1973) Heard in the Hive. The Times of Malta. 30 December; Page 20. [online]. Available from: https://www.timesofmalta.com (Accessed 9 January 2026).[↩]
25. Bee (1973) Heard in the Hive. The Times of Malta. 30 December; Page 20. [online]. Available from: https://www.timesofmalta.com (Accessed 9 January 2026).[↩]
26. Act of Death of Maria Darmenia; (1991) [↩]
27. Act of Death of Maria Darmenia; (1991) [↩]
28. Act of Death of Maria Darmenia; (1991) [↩]
29. Act of Death of Maria Darmenia; (1991) [↩]
30. Act of Death of Maria Darmenia; (1991) [↩]