Joseph Buttigieg


Joseph Anthony Buttigieg II was a Maltese-American literary scholar and translator. He served as William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame until his retirement in 2017, when he was named professor emeritus. Buttigieg cotranslated and coedited the three-volume English edition of Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks.

Early life and education

Buttigieg was the eldest of eight children born to Joseph Anthony and Maria Concetta Buttigieg in Hamrun, Malta. He began his education in Hamrun, completing undergraduate work and a master's degree at the University of Malta. He earned a second bachelors degree, a B.Phil., from Heythrop College of the University of London and a Ph.D. in English from Binghamton University. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1979.

Career and personal life

Buttigieg taught at New Mexico State University at Las Cruces starting in 1976 and there met Jennifer Anne Montgomery, also a new faculty member. In 1980, they married and also joined the faculty of Notre Dame. Their son, Pete Buttigieg, was elected as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and ran for the Democratic nomination as presidential candidate in the 2020 election. Pete said in his book, Shortest Way Home, that his father was called racial slurs, even though he was European, because of his darker skin.
Buttigieg specialized in modern European literature and theory. He was translator and editor of the three-volume English edition of Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, published from 1992 to 2007 with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was a founding member and president of the International Gramsci Society, founded to facilitate communication between those who study Antonio Gramsci. He also served as chair of the English Department at Notre Dame and was promoted to William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English. He took emeritus status upon retiring in 2017. He died on January 27, 2019.