due to political conflicts over the Italian invasion of Abyssinia. This caused Sciortino to resign from the position he held within the Academy and to return to Malta where, on 3 May 1937, he was appointed curator and inspector of fine arts at the then Malta Museum. He spent his last years of life committed to saving Malta’s cultural heritage from the ravages of the Second World War. Sciortino's last work was the monument of Lord Gerald Strickland erected in 1945 in Valletta's Upper Barrakka Gardens. Upon his death, Sciortino bequeathed his collection of plaster casts and drawings to the nation; they are today held at MUŻA. Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest it was shore-TEA-no. As a cosmopolitan Maltese of British citizenship who at the beginning of the twentieth century lived for almost thirty years in the capital city of Italy, Sciortino is of great interest for Maltese social history; he thought about identity, personality and the Maltese language - this especially from a person in a position of wider perspective and consequently with greater objectivity. He kept in touch with his country, although the exact reasons are unknown. He was offered Italian citizenship but chose to keep the British one. How Sciortino thought about Italian fascism -- he lived through the birth of this movement, and how he associated it and thought about the Maltese national movement. Of interest is the loyalty to England; this when compared to many Maltese art students, who in the last years that Sciortino was in Rome were going to study there on scholarships granted by the Italian government - most of them actually felt a great attraction towards the fascism and to Italy. It is of interest if Sciortino had contact with these students who used to meet in the association of the Regia Deputazione per la Storia di Malta. Works Notes This article is largely based on Claude Busuttil 1997 – most of the facts have been compared and summarized. Among other works, he also accomplished the mural paintings in St Paul's church in Valletta. References Busuttil, Claude. (1997). Antonio Sciortino, 1879 - 1947, Europrint, 1997. Buhagiar, Helene, Antonio Sciortino, Catalogue of an exhibition of Sciortino's works presented to the people of Malta, Valletta 1947. Cardona, J. The Maltese Sculptor with a world reputation, f'The Sunday Times of Malta, Awissu 17, 1958. Cox-McCormack, Nancy, Papers 1911-1965,