Mintoff added to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

The latest update of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published today 7 January 2016, adds biographies of 222 individuals who left their mark on British life, and who died in the year 2012 – including former prime minister of Malta, Dominic Mintoff.

Mintoff (1916–2012) was the dominant figure in post-war Maltese politics, and several times prime minister of Malta.

A former Rhodes Scholar, he first campaigned for Malta to be integrated with Britain and then campaigned vigorously for independence; he later challenged British influence while espousing an anti-colonial ‘third worldism’, and his reliance on intimidation and confrontation as political tools cast a long shadow over Maltese politics.

His biography for the Oxford DNB is written by Professor Henry Frendo, University of Malta.

Prominent figures in the new edition include: the historian Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012); war correspondent Marie Colvin (1956-2012); editor of the Times, William Rees-Mogg (1928-2012); the astronomers Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012) and Sir Bernard Lovell (1913-2012); hairdresser Vidal Sassoon (1928-2012); Jim Marshall (1923-2012), inventor of the Marshall amp; Allan Horsfall (1927-2012), pioneer of gay rights in Britain; and Gerry Anderson (1929-2012), animator and creator of the children’s puppet series, Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds.

The Oxford DNB is the national record of men and women who have shaped British history, worldwide, from prehistory to the year 2012. From January 2016 the Dictionary includes biographies of 59,879 individuals, written by 14,188 contributors.