Saverio Cassar

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Saverio Cassar (born December 29, 1746 in Gozo , † December 16, 1805 there ) was a Maltese Roman Catholic clergyman and statesman. From 1798 to 1801 he was governor general of the independent state of Gozo .

Life

Cassar studied in Rome and was ordained a priest on March 30, 1771 . In 1773 he became archpriest and in 1775 Pro-Vicar of Gozo.

On September 3, 1798, the Gozitans rose against the French occupation. Saverio Cassar was appointed Prime Minister of Gozo on September 18 of the same year. The French garrisons in the citadel of Rabat and in Fort Chambray surrendered to the British on October 28 and 29, 1798, who left the government of the island to Cassar. This submitted to King Ferdinand III. of Sicily . One of his first official acts was on October 29, 1798, the demand for the creation of a separate diocese on the island. However, this wish came only in 1864 to Pope Pius IX. with the creation of the Diocese of Gozo after.

Act

Cassar was not very successful as a statesman. The Gozitan economy did take a certain boom under his reign, but this was mainly based on exports of agricultural products to Sicily-Naples and the high payments that the French made for their warships to use the port of Mġarr .

Due to differences with the British administration in Mdina , Saverio Cassar was removed from his post as governor of Gozo on August 20, 1801 and replaced by Emmanuele Vitale . Cassar resumed pastoral care and died four years later.

In 2005 a memorial was erected to him in Independence Square in Victoria , the capital of Gozo, and inaugurated on December 14, 2005 by the Maltese President Eddie Fenech Adami .

literature

  • Joseph Bezzina: Religion and Politics in a Crown Colony. The Gozo-Malta Story, 1798-1864. Bugelli Publications, 1985 (English).
  • Godwin Vella: A Window onto the Day-to-Day running of the Nazione Gozitana. In: The Gozo Observer. No. 20, June 2009, p. 34 ( online, PDF ) (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael J. Schiavone: Dictionary of Maltese Biographies A-F . Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza, Pietà, Malta 2009, ISBN 978-99932-91-32-9 , pp. 533-534 (English).
  2. ↑ Joseph Bezzina: The solemn entry of the first bishop of Gozo 150 years ago. In: Times of Malta. November 2, 2014, accessed October 10, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Monument to Gozitan hero. In: Times of Malta . December 8, 2005, accessed November 13, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Cassar, Saverio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Maltese Roman Catholic clergyman and politician, Governor General of Gozo
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1746
PLACE OF BIRTH Gozo
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1805
Place of death Gozo