VALLETTA, Malta, March 14 (UPI) -- Dr. Censu Tabone, an ophthalmologist and Maltese politician who helped launch the World Health Organization, died Wednesday. He was 98.
Family members told the Times of Malta that Tabone, who would have celebrated his 99th birthday on March 30, died at home.
Tabone capped his political career by serving as president of Malta from 1989 to 1994. He hosted a summit between U.S. President George H.W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union and greeted Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II.
After receiving his medical degree from the University of Malta, Tabone served as a military doctor. He was nearly killed by a World War II bombing in Malta, which was then a British colony.
Tabone was trained as an ophthalmologist in Britain and became the first eye surgeon to work for the WHO. He was in charge of a campaign that came close to eliminating tracheoma in several countries.
In the 1960s, as Malta prepared for independence, Tabone became involved in politics. He served as minister of labor, education and welfare in the 1960s and minister of foreign affairs 20 years later.
In his first cabinet position, Tabone helped promote a resolution on aging at the United Nations and in the second proposed a resolution that climate should be considered part of the common human heritage.
A devout Catholic, Tabone attended mass almost every day. He gave medical testimony to support the beatification of Dun Georg Preca, a Maltese priest who has since been canonized.
A punctual man, Tabone repaired clocks as a hobby.
Tabone is survived by his wife of 70 years, Maria, eight children, 19 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
