Stephen C. Spiteri (born 15 September 1963) is a Maltese

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians ...

, author, lecturer and

preservationist Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation u ...

. His work mainly deals with the military history of

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, particularly military architecture, and he is regarded as the "leading expert on Malta's fortifications."

Biography

He is the son of architect Joseph M. Spiteri. Spiteri studied at St. Aloysius' College and the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association, ...

. He is the Research Co-ordinator of the Restoration Directorate, the Maltese government's entity responsible for restoring historic buildings, and he is also a lecturer at the International Institute for Baroque Studies of the University of Malta. Spiteri previously served as the Superintendent of Fortifications for a decade, and he was also Acting Curator of the

Palace Armoury The Palace Armoury () is an arms collection housed at the Grandmaster's Palace (Valletta), Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta, Malta. It was the main armoury of the Knights Hospitaller, Order of St. John in the 17th and 18th centuries, and as such i ...

in the Grandmaster's Palace in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. He later became curator of the

Fortifications Interpretation Centre The Fortress Builders – Fortifications Interpretation Centre (FIC) is an interpretation centre about the fortifications of Malta. It is housed in a late 16th-century warehouse located near the Fortifications of Valletta#Marsamxett enceinte, St. ...

, also in Valletta. Spiteri has written and illustrated numerous authoritative books dealing with the fortifications of Malta, especially those fortresses built by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

. All of them are now collector's items fetching often steep prices. He also edits ''Arx – Online Journal of Military Architecture and Fortification'', which is published via his website ''MilitaryArchitecture.com''. Spiteri is one of the founding members of the Sacra Militia Foundation for the study of Hospitaller Military and Naval History, as well as the Fortress Explorer Society.Ciappara, F. (ed.) (2015)
Fort Manoel: the design and construction of an 18th-century Hospitaller fort (book review)
Journal of Baroque Studies, 1(3), 189-191.]

Publications

*''Discovering the Fortifications of the Order of St. John in Malta'' (1988) Said International, 184 pp. *''The Knights' Fortifications: An Illustrated Guide of the Fortifications Built by the Knights of St. John in Malta'' (1989, 1990) Published by the author, 240 pp. *''The British Fortifications: An Illustrated Guide to the British Fortifications in Malta'' (1991) Published by the author, 247 pp. *''Fortresses of the Cross: Hospitaller Military Architecture (1136–1798)'' (1994) Heritage Interpretation Services, 674 pp. *
British Military Architecture in Malta
' (1996) Published by the author, 561 pp. . *''The Fougasse, The Stone Mortar of Malta'' (1999) *
Fortresses of the Knights
' (2001) BDL Publications, 382 pp. . *''Armoury of the Knights'' (2003) *''The Great Siege'' (2005) *''The Art of Fortress Building in Hospitaller Malta'' (2008) BDL Publications, 597 pp. *''A Visual Guide to the Fortifications of Malta'' (2017) BDL Publications, 224 pp. . *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiteri, Stephen C. 1963 births Living people Maltese military historians Historical preservationists Academic staff of the University of Malta Maltese curators University of Malta alumni

Biography

Publications

Further reading

References

External links