Anthony Valletta

Anthony Valletta (21 December 1908 – 8 December 1988 in Birkirkara, Malta) was a well known educationalist, lepidopterist and naturalist. He was a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society The Birkirkara Primary School was named after him. He has written several books on nature in the Maltese Islands, such as Know the Trees and Know the Birds. He also discovered a sub-species of butterfly which has been named after him - Pterolonche vallettae (Amsel, 1955 [1]). His collection of butterflies and insects was the largest in Malta. He was one of the first people in Malta to start a public consciousness to protect the island's environmental heritage. He was a headmaster at three state schools, Luqa, Għaxaq and Birkirkara and later an inspector of government schools for the Department of Education.

Books published

• Know the birds (1954)
• Know the wild flowers (1955)
• Know the trees (1959)
• The butterflies of the Maltese Islands (1971)
• The moths of the Maltese Islands (1972)
• Mit-tfulija man-natura (Since childhood with nature) - an autobiography (1983)