Project Description
In 2012, a square was inaugurated in Valletta named Pjazza Jean de La Valette which also features a statue of the Grandmaster. The statue is 2.5m high and was cast in bronze by the local sculptor Joseph Chetcuti. In the statue, La Valette is shown in armour and holding Valletta’s plan in one hand and a sword in the other.
For many years, the widely accepted version of the Grandmaster’s surname was de La Valette. However, during the unveiling of the statue at Pjazza Jean de Valette in November 2012, judge and historian Giovanni Bonello stated that the Grandmaster always signed his name as de Valette without the La. A week later, Désireé von la Valette Saint Georges, a descendant of the Grandmaster, stated that the family name was de la Valette, not de Valette and since then, a dispute has started as to what his name actually was.
The name de Valette is now used in Malta, although many still refer to him as de La Valette due to the collective memory. The Order’s successor, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, call the Grandmaster Fra’ Jean de La Vallette-Parisot.
