Caroline Tonna

Caroline Tonna is a seasoned creative professional, art and dress historian, curator, author and broadcaster.  Caroline has a rich background in anthropology and art history. She holds Bachelor degrees in Anthropology and Art History, and a Master of Arts degree in Art History, specialising in 19th century dress history and photography. She has contributed in local and foreign academic papers and delivered lectures on her specialised subjects in dress history and photography.

Caroline is the founder of Elegance magazine and since 2011, she has been a volunteer at Casa Rocca Piccola as curator of the extraordinary collection of costume and lace. She also helped out Marquis Nicolas de Piro to produce and publish the book, Ladies of Malta in Extravagant & Spectacular Maltese Lace (2013).

Caroline solo-authored the scholarly book “Society Fashion In Malta: The Portrait Photography Of Leandro Preziosi 1830-1869″ (2022), a single-author academic monograph based on her postgraduate research, published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti and has won Best Book Production at the 2023 National Book Prize.

Caroline Tonna is also one of the contributing authors of Discovering Women’s History in Malta (2024), a collective academic volume on Maltese women’s history and social roles, co-authored with multiple scholars and published by the University of Malta.

An art historian and curator at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum Mdina, Malta who has served as a board member of Arts Council Malta, as curator of Palazzo Falson, curated art, historic dress and photography exhibitions and has established herself in museum management.

Caroline has extensive experience publishing and media productions. She has produced radio and TV programmes, notably the 13-episode documentary Moda L-Istorja. 

Over the years Caroline has established a scholarly reputation in her fields of specialisation: the history of costume and dress, and photography.Caroline’s 40-year career of diverse experiences adds versatility to her creative profession and vision.