Pietro Paolo Castagna was born in Bormla, Malta, in 1827. In 1851 he was employed as a teacher in a Government school and went on to become Director of Elementary Schools. He dabbled in play-writing and in 1856-59 founded the Compagnia Filodrammatica Vittoriosa. The first edition of his work Malta bil Ghzejjer Tahha u li Ghadda min Ghaliha appeared in two volumes in 1865. The work proved to be so popular that a second edition in three volumes was published between 1888 and 1890. Castagna died in Bormla on 13 April 1907.
