The Marquis Giuseppe Scicluna monument

Abstract

Marquis Giuseppe Scicluna (1856-1907) and the Franciscan lay brother Fra Diego Bonanno (1831-1902) were contemporaries; the former was the son of a wealthy banker, the latter hailed from a poor family. With the generous assistance afforded to him by the public, Fra Diego began his pious work with no ostentation. He rented a little house at Hamrun, where he gathered a small group of little girls who were left destitute. He placed them under the care of kind-hearted persons. The good man believed that he had founded an asylum, and with angelical disingenuousness he consoled himself and rejoiced. Day by day the number of girls who had to find shelter increased. Fra Diego never turned a deaf ear to those who sought his protection. Thus the saintly work of Fra Diego continued to grow, until Marquis Giuseppe Scicluna, spurred by brotherly and Christian charity, built at his expense the Fra Diego Institute which still survives at Villambrosa. The stately building was designed by architect Annibale Lupi.