Gibraltar Medallion of Honour


The Gibraltar Medallion of Honour is a civil award scheme established by the Government of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Its creation was announced in July 2008 by Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Peter Caruana. It ranks below the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar.

Award

The Gibraltar Medallion of Honour was created by a motion of the Gibraltar Parliament on the 18 July 2008
and is awarded annually by the Gibraltar Parliament on "living or deceased Gibraltarians and others who the Parliament considers have served and contributed to the interests of Gibraltar and its people in an exceptional manner that is particularly worthy of special recognition by the House on behalf of the people of Gibraltar".
Once approved by Parliament, the awards are officially announced by the Mayor of Gibraltar prior to the symbolic release of the red and white balloons on Gibraltar National Day. The Mayor then presents the recipients with the Medallions in a private ceremony held at a later date.
In July 2011, the Gibraltar Parliament passed a motion allowing all Medallion recipients to use the post-nominal letters GMH after their name.

Recipients

2008

Upon the award's establishment, the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour was bestowed, posthumously, upon the following persons:Albert Risso – for services to trade unionism.Jacobo Azagury – for services to the arts.Rudecindo Mannia – for services to the arts.Sir Howard Davis – for public serviceWilliam Gomez – for services to music.Joseph Pitaluga – for public service.Dorothy Ellicott – for public service and service to heritage.Manolo Mascarenhas – for service to broadcasting.John Mackintosh – for philanthropy.Peter Isola – for services to politics.Aaron Cardozo – for services to Gibraltar.

2009

The 2009 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour were:Jose Netto – for services to trade unionism and workers.Adolfo Canepa, – for public services and services to politics.Joseph Gaggero – for services to aviation, shipping, business and commerce.Maurice Xiberras – for public services and services to politics.

2010

The 2010 sole recipient of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour was:Bernard Linares – for services to religion, trade unionism, education, public service and politics.

2011

The 2011 sole recipient of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour was:Kaiane Aldorino – for personal achievement in becoming Miss World 2009.

2013

The 2013 sole recipient of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour was:Perry Stieglitz – for his work defending Gibraltar's rights from the Gibraltar office in Washington

2014

The 2014 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour were:Ernest Montado – for services to the public service and politicsJohn Alcantara – for services to the law and politicsAurelio Montegriffo – for services to politicsAlbert Poggio – for representing Gibraltar in the United Kingdom and amongst other UK Overseas Territories
The 2014 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Distinction were:Ernest Lima – for services to public healthDennis Matthews – for services to the people of GibraltarFortunato Azopardi – founding member of the Self-Determination for Gibraltar GroupAdelaide Canessa – for services to educationKevin Dobson – for services to educationLionel Perez – for services to education and cultureJulio Alcantara – for services to the administration of educationEugene Howes – for public serviceDennis Figueras – for public serviceJohn Desoisa – for public serviceMelvyn Farrell – for public serviceAnnie Risso – for her work in the establishment and development of the Special Olympics movement in GibraltarCharles Conroy – for his work in the establishment and development of martial arts in GibraltarCharles Flower – – for service to SportEloise Mañasco – for her outstanding sporting achievements in Air Rifle shootingNathan Stagno – for his outstanding achievements in international umpiringJoseph Hernandez – for services to sportsJohn Gonçalves – for service to BasketballChristian Santos – for services to popular cultureElio Victor – for services to young peopleMarisa Desoiza – for services to Cancer Relief charitiesTobie Roosevelt – for services to Gibraltar in the Gibraltar American Council

2015

The 2015 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour were:
  • James Levy – for serving and contributing to the interests of Gibraltar and its people in an exceptional manner in particular for their services to the Community in the economic development of Gibraltar.
  • George Bassadone – for serving and contributing to the interests of Gibraltar and its people in an exceptional manner in particular for their services to the Community in the economic development of Gibraltar.
  • John Bassadone – for serving and contributing to the interests of Gibraltar and its people in an exceptional manner in particular for their services to the Community in the economic development of Gibraltar.
  • Felix Pizzarello – for his service to the public service in various ranks of the judiciary.
  • Anthony Dudley – for his service to the Community in various ranks of the judiciary and marking his appointment as the first Gibraltarian Chief Justice.
  • Joe Garcia – for his service to the Community in the fields of journalism and publishing.
  • Juan Carlos Perez – for his service to the Trade Union movement, politics, HM Government of Gibraltar and the development of telecommunications.
The 2015 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Distinction were:
  • Joe Schembri – for service to the sporting community in particular the Commonwealth Games Association in Gibraltar.
  • Mark Randall – for his service to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and in particular his contribution to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Benevolent Fund and other charities.
  • Mark Miles – for the international promotion of Gibraltar through outstanding professional achievement in his service to His Holiness the Pope, Pope Francis.
  • James Felices – for services to the youth and in particular the Cheshire Homes in Morocco.
  • Humbert Hernandez – for the successful abolition of conscription and the establishment of the Action Group for the Abolition of Conscription as well as the recording of that period in the history of Gibraltar in his book on the subject, Conscript or Convict.
  • Alfred Cortes – for the successful abolition of conscription and the establishment of the Action Group for the Abolition of Conscription.
  • Henry Pinna – for the promotion of the rights of those seeking housing in through Action for Housing.
  • Tommy Finlayson – for services in the recording of the history of Gibraltar.
  • Joe Gingell – for the recording of the history of the evacuation of Gibraltar and to local charities.
  • Juaquin Bensusan – for services to the Gibraltar Museum.
  • George Palao – for services to the recording of the history of Gibraltar.
  • William Serfaty – for the promotion of the right to self-determination of the People of Gibraltar.
  • Joey Gabay – for services in activism in defence of the rights of the political rights of the People of Gibraltar.
  • Joseph "Pepe" Romero – for services to education as the first Gibraltarian headmaster of Bayside School.
  • Mario Arroyo – for services to education and the arts.
  • Robert Balban – for services to the youth of Gibraltar and to local charities.
  • Leslie Zammitt – for services to education and the performing arts.
  • Jenny Montegriffo – for services to education, latterly as Headmistress of St Paul's School.
  • Henry Sacramento – for services to the community, in particular community policing, and the arts.
  • Mariola Summerfield – for creating awareness of women's issues
  • Carmen Gomez for outstanding achievements in the performing arts.
  • Brian Callaghan for services to tourism in the hotel industry.
  • Ernest Francis – for services to tourism in the hotel industry.
  • James Bossino – for services to tourism in the hotel industry.
  • Georgina Cassar – for outstanding representation of Gibraltar in sport, in Rhythmic Gymnastics, as part of the United Kingdom Olympic Team in 2012.
  • Chris Walker – for services to Sport, in particular the Triathlon, and the outstanding representation of Gibraltar in international competitions including becoming World Champion in this sport.
  • Arturo Taylor – for services to sport, in particular shooting.
  • Joe Santos – for services to sport, in particular swimming and the coaching thereof.
  • Anthony Avellano – for services to sports journalism.
  • John Shepherd Snr – for services to sports journalism.
  • A B Massias – for his contribution to the economy of Gibraltar through property development.
  • Louis Peralta – for his contribution to the economy of Gibraltar through property development.
  • Lucio Randall – for his contribution to the development of telecommunications as managing director of Gibtel.
  • Charlie Fortunato – for his contribution to the development of telecommunications as managing director of Gibraltar Nynex Communications.
  • James Ferro – for his services to the development of the Port in Gibraltar and the welfare of seamen.
  • Robert Goldwin – for services to the Community in his role in the Public Services Commission.
  • Douglas Harrison – for his services to patients with kidney problems.
  • Salvador Perez – for services to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Association as its chairman.
  • Rene Beguelin – for services to medicine and charities.
  • Olivier Wasnaire – for services to Gibraltar in the establishment and maintenance of a presence in Brussels.
  • Solomon Levy – for services to Gibraltar in the promotion of intercommunity understanding amongst different religions and cultures.

2019

The 2019 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour were:
  • Karel Mark Chichon – for excelling outside Gibraltar in his field of music as a conductor.
  • Elisa Sheriff- – for campaigning in London in the 1960s and standing for election to the House of Commons against then Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart to promote Gibraltar's cause.
  • Karen Prescott – for becoming the first Gibraltarian woman Judge.
  • Louis Triay – for services to Politics, the Law and Sailing.
The 2019 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Distinction were:

For services to education

  • Robert Albert Beiso
  • Maria Teresa Beiso
  • Julie Canepa
  • Janet Davidson
  • Stewart Harrison
  • Joseph Cortes
  • Jyoti Massetti
  • Patricia Duarte
  • '''Charles Pizarro'''

For services to promoting Europe and education

  • Albert Danino
  • '''Ivan Navas'''

For promoting Gibraltar abroad

  • Joseph Carseni
  • David Liston
  • '''Mohamed Lehyan'''

For charitable work

  • Emily Adamberry
  • Marielou Guerrero
  • Kishin Alwani
  • Charles Azzopardi
  • Rosanna Olivares
  • Mercy Posso
  • Myra Zayas
  • Annie Green
  • Daphne Alcantara
  • Alfred Medina
  • Julio Pons
  • '''Joseph Chiara'''

For services to health

  • Susan Vallejo
  • Anthony Kevan Sercombe
  • '''Adolfo Donald Bacarese-Hamilton'''

For services to our environment and quality of life

  • Keith Bensusan
  • '''Janet Howitt'''

For services to culture

  • Jordan Bautista
  • Joseph "Pepe" Roman
  • Freddie Ryman
  • John Grech
  • Nathan Payas
  • Gibraltar Re-enactment Society
  • Tito Vallejo
  • John Bugeja
  • Lati Edmonds
  • Valerie Feetham-Makey
  • '''Alfred Reoch'''

For services to tourism

  • William Piccone
  • '''Stephen Vella'''

For public service

  • Joseph Caruana
  • Jack Noble
  • Hazel Cumbo
  • Hector Cohen
  • Dennis Reyes
  • Aida Goldwin
  • Gilbert Joseph Podesta
  • Paul Baglietto
  • Clive Finlayson
  • Geraldine Finlayson
  • Mario Hook
  • Michael Gil
  • Hector Montado
  • John Collado
  • Peter Montegriffo
  • Jose Julio Pisharello
  • Peter Isola
  • Albert Langston
  • Victor Ochello
  • Haresh Budhrani
  • Ali Douissi
  • Clive Golt
  • James Dalmedo
  • Christine Clifton-Psaila
  • Susan Clifton-Tucker
  • Manuel Ruiz
  • Terence Lopez
  • Joseph Acris
  • Alice Mascarenhas
  • '''Francis Sheriff'''

For services to sport

  • Anthony Joaquin
  • Peter Conroy
  • Frank Carreras
  • Linda Alvarez
  • '''Lee Casciaro'''

2021

The 2021 recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour were:

The Roll of Honour

A roll of Medallion recipients is kept: the Roll of Honour. Every year the historical roll is published. Besides the recipients of the Medallion, all recipients of the Freedom of the City are automatically entered into the roll. They are the following:Gustavo Bacarisas James Joseph Giraldi Sir Joshua Abraham Hassan Sir Robert Peliza