Mary Sciberras Fenech Adami (

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

: Marija Sciberras Fenech Adami) (13 October 1933 – 8 July 2011) was the wife of the 7th

President of Malta The president of Malta () is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The president is indirect election, indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term and requires them to sw ...

Edward Fenech Adami Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami (born 7 February 1934) is a Maltese and Nationalist politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. Subsequently, he was the seventh president of Malta fr ...

. She was First Lady of Malta from 2004 to 2009.

Biography

Early and personal life

Mary Sciberras was born in Sliema on 13 October 1933, and attended Sliema State Secondary School. She married Edward Fenech Adami on 27 June 1965. The couple had five children. Fenech Adami was a private woman, but was "regarded as her husband’s pillar of strength throughout his lengthy political career". She was a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and reportedly never missed daily Mass.

1979 attack

In 1977, Eddie Fenech Adami became leader of the country's Nationalist Party. On 15 October 1979, a large group of thugs ransacked various Nationalist Party clubs and the private residence of Mary and Edward Fenech Adami in Birkirkara, after attacking the premises of the newspaper, ''

The Times of Malta The ''Times of Malta'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Malta. Founded in 1935, by Lord and Lady Strickland and Lord Strickland's daughter Mabel, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Malta. It has the widest circu ...

.'''''' Mary, who was returning from mass, found her home's front door wide open, and ten men inside ransacking the residence. She was beaten by the men, who were carrying "chains and bars". The 1979 attack, later called "Black Monday", consolidated Eddie Fenech Adami's leadership as in the Nationalist Party.

As First Lady

When Edward Fenech Adami became Prime Minister, Mary chose not to move into

San Anton Palace San Anton Palace () is a palace in Attard, Malta, that currently serves as the official residence of the president of Malta. It was originally built in the early 17th century as a country villa for Antoine de Paule, a knight of the Knights Hospit ...

, instead remaining in her home in

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

. She continued to walk to the local market to buy her own groceries. As First Lady, Fenech Adami did take part in charitable events, such as visiting schools to raise funds for the annual

Bank of Valletta Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) is a Maltese bank and financial services company headquartered in Santa Venera. It is the oldest established financial services provider in Malta and one of the largest. As of 2014, the bank had 44 branches, 6 regio ...

's L-Istrina campaign. She was a chair of the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Later life and death

In 2008, Fenech Adami was given the Grand-Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Fenech Adami was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and began undergoing treatment. In early July 2011, she suffered a heart attack at the wedding of then-Prime Minister

Lawrence Gonzi Lawrence Gonzi (born 1 July 1953) is a Maltese politician, retired Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime Minister of Malta from 2004 to 2013, and lead ...

’s son. She was hospitalized, dying on 8 July at age 77. Her funeral was held on 10 July in Birkirkara, and "resembled a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

Awards and honours

PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Cross BAR

Grand-Cross of the

(11.12.2008)

References

External links

Official biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenech Adami, Mary 1933 births 2011 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Malta 21st-century Maltese people 21st-century Maltese women Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Maltese Roman Catholics People from Birkirkara People from Sliema