This page is the start of a list of Baldacchinos of particular note.
Giacomo Baldacchino (active 1551-1587): 1565 is the ‘great’ date in Maltese history when the Knights of St John, supported by the Maltese population as well as mercenaries from Italy and Spain, defeated a massive invasion from Sulieman the Magnificent’s Ottoman Empire, as the front line of defence between ‘the Cross and the Crescent’. It was a devastating period lasting several months and ending with only the last fort standing when a relief force was finally sent by the Viceroy of Sicily. At the time of the siege, there were 14 notaries operating in Malta and remarkably, one of these was Giacomo Baldacchino. Even more remarkably, a recent project on notary documents of this period has unearthed a writing by Giacomo on the day the relief force finally arrived and the siege was lifted. As you might imagine, it describes that the people ‘lay prostrate before God …’. Hugely unique and important find.
Bishop Francis Baldacchino (1936-2009): Born in Malta, Francis was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Malindi, Kenya. He was ordained as a Capuchin in 1961 and went on a mission to Kenya in 1964. Amongst many other accomplishments, he established a major seminary in Nairobi. Pope John Paul II appointed him a bishop in 2000 with oversight of almost half a million faithful. He remained in Kenya until returning to Malta shortly before his death.
Dr Joseph George Baldacchino (1894-1974): Joseph was a Maltese doctor turned archaeologist. He excavated the fascinating Ghar Dalam cave, where finds date back to the Paleolithic period and also provide the earliest evidence of human habitation on the island. In 1933, he became Curator of Natural History for the Malta Museum Department and following the war, he became Director of the Museum Department. He promoted much work on Malta’s megalithic temples, some of the oldest freestanding structures in the world and a number of which are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites.