Costantino Mifsud was born in Rabat on the 21st of April 1943. His interest in the study of the Maltese natural history was sparked during his youth when he worked with his father at their fields in Buskett. Mr Mifsud recalls that he used to carry a copy of A. Valletta’s Know the Trees and later on, he also consulted publications by Guido Lanfranco.

Mr Mifsud’s education commenced at the Lyceum and was followed by studies at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. During this time, he was an apprentice with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (R.E.M.E.), an apprenticeship which lasted for six years. Moreover, Mr Mifsud also attended a course at the St. Michael’s Teacher Training College. Mr Mifsud’s teaching career spanned 38 years at Government schools, as well as at the former Technical Institutes in Naxxar and Paola.

Mr Mifsud has been contributing to the research on local marine fauna for the majority of his life. In the 1990s, he was introduced to the systematics and taxonomy by Mr Charles Cachia which further contributed to his research. A main interest of Mr Mifsud is in the parasites of the marine animals, especially those on the echinoderms. His remarkable contributions as author and co-author on various publications span decades, from 1986 to the present day, and include descriptions of several species which had been hitherto unknown to science.

Amongst his works, Mr Mifsud published as a co-author the four volumes of The Marine Mollusca of the Maltese Islands and two books, in Maltese and in English, one on L-Ekinodermi tal-Gżejjer Maltin/The Echinderms of the Maltese Islands (2020) and another on Il-Krustaċji tal-Gżejjer Maltin/The Crustaceans of the Maltese Islands (2021). The latter publication is dedicated to Guido Lanfranco. In April 2007, Mr Mifsud participated in a 15 day research cruise for corals around the Maltese Island on the RV/Urania through Dr. Marco Taviani (CRN Bologna).

Mr Mifsud does not describe himself as a biologist, but a nature lover, a field worker and a taxonomist. During his years of retirement from teaching duties, Mr Mifsud has been involved in voluntary work together with another three exteachers at the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina. He is also still very active in his garden, especially with his Galletti (Caltha palustris L.) and a few other trees and plants.