Mark Camilleri M.Q.R (born 2 February 1988) is a Maltese historian, writer, blogger, and publisher. Camilleri served as chairman of the National Book Council from 2013 to 2021. Following this, he became an outspoken critic of the ruling Labour Party and of prime ministers Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela.
Early career
As a very young man, Mark Camilleri always had a great interest for history and politics. While still being a secondary school student, he used to socialise and discuss politics with leftists and communists at the Communist Party of Malta premises in Valletta.
He later became an active member of Moviment Graffitti[1] During this time, he was once arrested together with another Graffitti member for attempting to throw red paint at an American warship, the USS O'Bannon which was temporarily berthed in Malta. Since he was still a minor at the time of the crime, his name was not published but was conditionally discharged for involuntarily damaging police uniforms and fined €100 (Lm42.91).[2]
Mark Camilleri continued his studies at the University of Malta where he later graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in 2009 and M.A. in 2012. During his University years in 2009, he published Alex Vella Gera's short story Li Tkisser Sewwi (trans. Fix What You Break) in his student newspaper Ir-Realta'. Vella Gera's short story is a first person male narrative on female objectification and sexual exploits. The publication was promptly banned from the University of Malta and Camilleri was indicted to court along with the author for publishing obscenities and pornography.[3] This arrest took place during a time when old censorship laws were being applied across the arts sector.[4] This led him to organize a pressure group called Front Against Censorship which lobbied for the removal of censorship laws from the arts. Camilleri and Vella Gera were released from all charges by Maltese courts.[5] Following their release, censorship laws in Malta were removed in 2016. During the following year, the Front Against Censorship lobbied for the removal of criminal libel, which was subsequently removed from Malta's code of laws in 2018.[6]
For his work against government censorship, Camilleri was controversially awarded a Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika (M.Q.R) in 2013 by Malta's President George Abela, amidst accusations of political patronage.[7][8]
Camilleri has also pushed for the exportation of Maltese literature,[12] describing Immanuel Mifsud and Walid Nabhan as two of the most representative contemporary Maltese authors around the world.[13]
After the 2019 Malta political crisis Camilleri became very critical of the government owing to complications arising from his own position on Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder investigation.[14] An example of this is evident in the cancellation of the National Book Prize Ceremony, which was due to be held at the Office of the Prime Minister in November.[15] This followed a request for his resignation from his public service post after insulting senior government officials. He refused to resign and issued a formal apology.[16]
His contract with the National Book Council was not renewed in 2021[17] and he claimed political discrimination,[18] demanding a lifetime achievement award.[19]
His output as a historian includes the books A Materialist Revision of Maltese History 870-1919 (2016, SKS, ISBN9789993217435) and A Materialist Revision of Maltese History 1919-1979 (2018, SKS, ISBN9789993217565).[26] Camilleri also accused in his work that Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had deliberately concealed archaeological evidence to gloss over Malta's Islamic history and called for the publication of all archaeological items in its inventory.[27] In 2020 he also called for relocation of a statue of Queen Victoria from the centre of Valletta.[28][29]
Camilleri writes regularly on his blog and pursues as a self-published author through his own publishing house, Dar Camilleri.[31] Publications include his novel Ġaħan fl-Aqwa Żmien (2022, ISBN9789918953523)[32] and L-Antologija ta' Letteratura Mqarba (2022, ISBN9789918953530).[31]
In 2021, he released the online chats between alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder Yorgen Fenech and Maltese politician Edward Zammit Lewis.[33] In 2023, he released the chats between Fenech and Maltese politician Rosianne Cutajar. This led to the resignation of Cutajar from the Malta Government's parliamentary group,[34] which also triggered her removal from the Social Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Malta.[35] The Criminal Court ordered that Camilleri be charged with criminal action over the release of the chats involving Cutajar, interpreting this as contempt of court in the context of Fenech's ongoing judicial process.[36]
