Hotel Phoenicia is proud to have hosted Oscar-winning actor, director and screenwriter Roberto Benigni during his stay in Malta. Benigni was in Malta to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature, conferred on him by the University of Malta. He has also performed a serata Dantesca together with Prof. Robert Hollander.

Benigni was honoured by the doctorate honoris causa, sponsored by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, on whose initiative he was brought over, in recognition of his “indefatigable vibrancy and enduring versatility” as film director and actor that has won him “broad and deserved international acclaim.”

Charles Azzopardi, the Phoenicia’s general manager said “Although the hotel has hosted a large number of personalities in its 60 years history, few were those who were so vibrant and that left a mark with all the staff of the hotel.”