Michelangelo Sapiano

Michelangelo Sapiano (March 19, 1826 – December 2, 1912) was a Maltese clock maker and inventor born in Mqabba, Malta.

Early life Michelangelo Sapiano was born in Mqabba in 1826, the son of Baskal and Tereża née Agius. When he was 14 years of age he opened a watch repair shop and at such a young age he managed to repair the Parish Church clock at Mqabba. Sapiano learned how to be a horologist from Giananton Tanti of Marsa, who was also a skilled blacksmith.

He left Mqabba for Luqa when he was 21 years old, soon after he married Mikelina Mifsud in 1847. Apart from showing the time, days and date this clock also shows the phases of the moon and the time at which the sun rises and goes down. This clock also has a mechanism which marks when a year is a leap year.

Sapiano made other precision instruments, including a weighing machine for the Malta Customs, which could take weights from 700 lbs down to a fraction of an ounce.