The University of Malta is to confer an honorary doctorate on the incomparable and widely-acclaimed Italian actor Roberto Benigni in a ceremony expected to take place in April.

The ceremony, in which Mr Benigni is to be awarded an Honoris Causa literature doctorate, is to be held at the Jesuits Church in Valletta, as are all similar ceremonies.

The news was making the rounds on Italian news agencies yesterday.

Contacted yesterday, a University spokesperson confirmed that plans were under way but that the event’s details were still in the making and as such were still tentative.

The doctorate in literature from the University of Malta is to have less to do with Mr Benigni’s acting career and more to do with his performances of Tutto Dante (All Dante), in which he dissects, phrase by phrase, La Divina Comedia (The Divine Comedy) – an allegorical journey through hell, purgatory and paradise written by Dante Alighieri in the early 14th century.

Over the performances, Mr Benigni brings Dante’s masterpiece to life by giving the work a unique political, social, cultural and religious context.

In all, Mr Benigni gives his singular insight to the first 10 canti and the 26th and 33rd canti of Dante’s Inferno, as well as to the 33rd canto of Dante’s Paradiso.

After touring the monologue show across Italy last summer, his Florence performances, in which he performs in the shadow of a looming statue of Dante in Piazza Santa Croce, are being broadcast on Italian state television RAI Uno. The screenings, as well as last summer’s tour, have proved immensely popular.

In addition to the ceremony at the Jesuits Church, while in Malta Mr Benigni is also expected to deliver a lecture at the University.

With details of Mr Benigni’s visit still being ironed out, the University could not at this stage confirm whether he would be treating Malta to a live performance of Tutto Dante, but the prospects of such a development are not being ruled out.

Given the fact that Mr Benigni enjoys wide popularity in Malta, large screens are expected to be set up around Valletta on the night the doctorate is conferred, so that the public at large will be able to follow the proceedings.

The 55-year-old Tuscan comedian is probably best known in the English speaking world for directing and starring in La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful), for which he won the best foreign film and best actor Oscars in 1999.

Nor is he a stranger to Malta, having spent a week in Malta filming special effects for his 2002 adaptation of Pinocchio.