Ercole J.Valenzia, Arturo Valenzia. Courtesy of National Archives of Malta.
In 1967, the chairman of the Malta Insurance Association sent a heated letter to the director of Sheffield Newspapers Ltd. In it, J. Caruana-Montaldo makes reference to insulting comments about the local insurance industry, such as the need for ‘top men’. Mr. Montaldo retorts: “during your next visit to Malta it would be illuminating to visit the Malta Chamber of Commerce which possesses perfectly preserved policies issued by Maltese insurance companies over 100 years ago.”
In the first panel of this exhibition, one finds such an example from a local agent of “Il Progresso”. It is a policy insuring the ‘Stella Matutina’ from 1872, a schooner caught in a storm two years later, depicted in an ex-voto on display. This is, perhaps, in fulfilment of Montaldo’s wish to give prominence to the rich archives at the Chamber and the history of the Maltese insurance industry contained within. Thanks to Atlas, it is also quite possibly the first time an ex-voto and an insurance policy covering the same ship and captain have ever been reunited under the same roof.
Atlas Insurance has its own history of supporting local commerce. From the early pioneers in the music industry, to breweries, cinemas, motor garages, hotels, unions, and much more. However, the individuals that made Atlas were also personally involved in the furtherance and promotion of local industries, including insurance, through the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. Most of Atlas’ founding figures were members or elected to the Chamber’s council, some even taking up official positions within it.
In the 1920s, the agencies that merged to form Atlas as we know it in 1998 were still small offices in Valletta. The name ‘Atlas’ derives from Alfred Formosa’s agency for Atlas Assurance, Mr Formosa (Council member 1966-1967) was known as ‘tal-Atlas’ soon after he was appointed in 1945. However, the earliest agency to be appointed in Atlas’ list of antecedent agencies was A & V von Brockdorff, the business originally established in 1913. By 1920, they became agents for Commercial Union. Albert von Brockdorff was a member of the Chamber and even ran for election to the council. The Chamber archives hold several letters from the Brockdorffs requesting more information from prospective exporters.
Albert von Brockdorff , Victor von Brockdorff. Courtesy of National Archives of Malta.
The Brockdorffs would eventually merge with A.V. Mallia’s agency for Northern Assurance in 1971 (following the purchase of Northern by Commercial Union) to form Commercial Union (Agencies), later R von Brockdorff Insurance Agency. Robert von Brockdorff was to work for the insurance industry for many years as a leading member of the Malta Insurance Association Council, including acting as President various times. The Northern agent, Albert V. Mallia, was himself a towering figure in the history of insurance in Malta. In 1944 he was honorary secretary to the Chamber and eventually, in 1956, vice-president. More so, Mallia was a founding member of the Malta Insurance Association. His name is also present in multiple representations made through the Chamber on various issues, such as the enforcement of the compulsory third party motor insurance legislation after the war.
Albert V. Mallia. Courtesy of National Archives of Malta.
At the same time George E. Camilleri, the local agent of the Caledonian Insurance Company was equally ubiquitous in the Chamber’s links and correspondence with and for the local insurance industry. Camilleri made representations, often signing in his own name, relating to major issues faced by insurers leading up to and during the war. One of which was a petition against the proposed government monopolisation of motor insurance in 1940, signed by several local insurers including Mallia. Camilleri was also leading figure in the running of the Fire and Burglary Insurance Corporation with Mallia: an organisation set up between local insurers to insure local stocks brought by wartime convoys (specifically import pools). Another battle George fought through the Chamber was the attempt to retain marine insurance commissions for local agencies. In his own words, his aim was to ensure ‘the speedy removal of present-day necessary, but nevertheless irksome state control.’ George was honorary secretary in 1943, serving also in 1946 and 1966, eventually serving as president in 1974. George E. Camilleri was also a founder and first president of the Maltese-Arab Chamber of Commerce. His son, and Atlas’ first Chairman, Walter G. Camilleri, would serve as vice-president of the Chamber in 1993 at a time where Malta’s economy was still transitioning into a privatised, open economy. One of the issues Walter confronted was cargo surveyors’ rights to access areas within the port, in the interest of fair trade.
George E. Camilleri. Courtesy of National Archives of Malta.
George was not the first in his family to defend the interests of Maltese insurers and merchants so vociferously. His father was Walter Camilleri, appointed secretary to the Chamber in 1920. He held this position in especially trying times as Malta was still recovering from major inflation and the economic turbulence following WW1. One of the added economic pressures being the permanent establishment of the Navy Army Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) in 1920, denying local firms profitable admiralty supply contracts. In a time where Maltese merchants were under scrutiny, Walter Camilleri addresses the editor of the British Export Gazette (in reply to a defamatory article on Maltese merchants and export credit abuses) on behalf of the Chamber that the Maltese market ‘remained immune from such pernicious and dishonest practice, and that none of the evils and abuses which have so sorely affected the credit of other markets, have so far stained the unquestionable morality and honesty of the Maltese Merchants.’
Walter Camilleri. Courtesy of National Archives of Malta.
Walter would terminate his tenure in 1922. He would return in 1927 in the same role, before moving onto his work as appointed insurance agent for Caledonian. A year later, Ercole J. Valenzia, another founding figure of Atlas, sent a letter through the Chamber of Commerce protesting on behalf of local tailors. Valenzia was a solicitor and an early pioneer of trade unionism in Malta, eventually appointed local agent to Norwich Union in 1934, as well as representing the Constitutional Party in the Council of Government during the war.
Malta Chamber and Atlas Insurance sign Bronze partnership agreement (July, 2022). Left to right: Catherine Calleja, Matthew von Brockdorff, Marisa Xuereb and Chris Vassallo Cesareo.
Another of Atlas’ antecedent agencies, Gatt Insurance Services (later Capital), also left a long-term Council member and President of the Chamber in 1979 and 1982; Sydney A. Gatt (previously serving as senior vice-president). Matthew von Brockdorff, Robert’s son and present Atlas Managing Director and CEO, chaired the Insurance Trade Section between 2002 and 2004 and as such was an ex-ufficio member of the Council. More recently Atlas has continued its support of the Chamber with membership of committees, a Bronze Collaboration Sponsorship and the setting up of the first Health and Wellness Committee chaired by Catherine Calleja, between 2020 and 2023. Catherine Calleja, Atlas Executive Director and Walter’s daughter, was also elected to Council in 2021 and 2023, now chairing the Services Providers Economic Group.
Lastly, one cannot miss the opportunity to write that the Chamber itself records the commitment to the promotion of exhibitions in the Lewis Farrugia courtyard following the completion of its renovated roof. It was suggested that local manufacturers should display their products or even host exhibitions to support local commerce. I am immensely proud to have worked with Atlas to create such an exhibition; another cornerstone in the company’s legacy at the Chamber, fostering a deeper appreciation for Malta’s spirit of enterprise.
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