Toni Bajada, Malta

The historical character selected was Toni Bajada. He was a Maltese citizen who lived in the times of La Vallette. He was not rich or a leader but a normal Maltese citizen whom we have very little written information about. Though very heroic in his deeds, since he was not part of the knights, very little was written about him. All that was found, was that he was taken slave by the Turks when he was young, where he learned to speak Turkish and then returned to Malta. When the Turks attacked Malta, he used to swim across the Grand Harbour with messages between Fort St Angelo and Fort St Elmo. He also used to go in disguise in the Turkish camps and spy on them and report to the knights.  With his help Malta had won against the Turks in 1565. 

However, we collected more information about this character from stories told from father to son and which made Toni Bajada a legend. We found some old children’s books about the story of Toni Bajada and even researched material from libraries and newspapers. Interviews with some old folks about the Toni Bajada character were also made. Through improvisations and discussions, students built the character in the story and filled in the blanks with some research done on how life was in Malta during his time. Imagination played a very important part, and students were given all the opportunity to try and understand better this character.