Caterina Scappi

Caterina Scappi (died 20 June 1643) was a rich and well-respected benefactor of the Carmelite church in Malta.

Originally from Siena, Italy, from where she got her nickname "La Senese", Scappi spent a lot of her life in Malta.

[4] Scappi was considerably wealthy, but did not live a life of luxury, rather donating a lot of her money to charitable causes.

[3][6] In her will, she describes her motivations for founding the hospital: "As inspired by the Lord, eager to help and cure those wretched women who have fallen ill and who, bereft of everything, cannot receive treatment in their homes, driven by mercy for their misery.

[7] In his book History of Gynaecology in Malta, Charles Savona-Ventura explains that "The advent of the Knights of St John in 1530 and the establishment of the Island as a maritime base brought prostitution to the Islands creating an ideal environment for the spread of venereal disease.

"[8] In fact, Malta's high venereal disease infection rate had earned the island a grim reputation.

[3] She was initially buried in a corner of a chapel, but in 1791 her body was exhumed in order to be reburied in a more prominent area of the church.

[3] In the book Awguri Giovanni Bonello!, Clare Azzopardi wrote a fictional piece about Caterina Scappi, from the perspectives of women who knew her.