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 norma ...
, 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 us ...
. His work mainly deals with the military history of
Malta, 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
Joseph M. Spiteri or Joe Spiteri (1934-2013) was a Maltese architect.
Spiteri graduated from the University of Malta in 1958. From 1956 to 1975, he worked as an architect in the Public Works Department, and later as Senior Architect with MaltConsu ...
. Spiteri studied at
St. Aloysius' College and the
University of Malta. 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 ( mt, L-Armerija tal-Palazz) is an arms collection housed at the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta, Malta. It was the main armoury of the Order of St. John in the 17th and 18th centuries, and as such it was the last arsenal esta ...
in the
Grandmaster's Palace in
Valletta.
He later became curator of the
Fortifications Interpretation Centre
The Fortress Builders – Fortification 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. A ...
, 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. 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. URL https://books.google.com/books?id=E7PfAQAACAAJ&dq. .
*''The Fougasse, The Stone Mortar of Malta'' (1999)
*''Fortresses of the Knights'' (2001) BDL Publications, 382 pp. URL https://books.google.com/books?id=FiPrAAAAMAAJ&q. .
*''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. .
*
Further reading
Memories of a forgotten village - Petra Caruana Dingli
*
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