| Roderick Bovingdon | |
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| Born | 28 September 1942 (age 82) Attard |
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| Alma mater | University of Malta, University of New England, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, University of Oxford |
| Notable awards | Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika |
| Children | 2 |
Roderick "Rigu" Bovingdon (born 28 September 1942) is an Anglo-Maltese Australian writer, academic, promoter of Maltese culture, social commentator, translator and musician. [1] [2]
Roderick Bovingdon was born in Attard, Malta, on 28 September 1942 to Rebekka Debono and Henry Charles Bovingdon, an Englishman born in South Africa. [3] The family emigrated from Malta by boat and disembarked on the shores of Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia on 14 January 1959, when he was 16 years old. [4]
The language of any group and/or nation is the sole cultural and intellectual property of the people who speak it: collectively. [5]
In 1968, Roderick Bovingdon founded the first School of Maltese Language outside of Malta. [6]
in 1974, he played a key role in the initiation of a popular Maltese song festival in Australia. [7]
He has written numerous opinion pieces and commentary criticizing the National Council for the Maltese Language's prescriptivist stance and dismissive approach to diasporic linguistic norms. [2] [7]
In 2012, Tonio Borg, then-Deputy Prime Minister of Malta and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malta, appointed Roderick Bovingdon to the Board of Experts as the Maltese community expert for Australia as part of the Council for Maltese Living Abroad, a council tasked with "keeping a registry of non-governmental organisations that were founded overseas by Maltese communities," among other initiatives and services for the Maltese diaspora. [8] [9] [10] [11]
In 1974, Rigu Bovingdon pioneered Maltese-language pop music outside Malta with the release of Bejn il-Ħbieb (Between friends), which was recorded in Sydney, Australia. [12]
Għana singers Rigu Bovingdon and Joe Galea were featured in L’Imnarja, Fête des lumières (Malte), [13] a 1983 documentary produced by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). [14]
In 1965, he married Iris Pace. They have two sons. [3]
On 13 October 2012, Bovingdon was named Honorary member of the Maltese Poets Association (in Maltese: Għaqda Poeti Maltin) [15]
His 2015 book Laurent Ropà: L-Intellettwali Għawdxi-Franċiż was considered for the 2016 National Book Prize in the Historiographic Research category. [16]
On 13 December 2018, he was awarded the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika (Medal for Service to the Republic). [17] [18]
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