Antonio Busca (

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, 17 February 1767 – Milan, 19 May 1834) was an Italian nobleman and

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

from 1821 to 1834.

Life

Descended from the painter Antonio Busca, he belonged to a noble Milanese family. He officially entered the Order of Malta on 11 March 1779. On 11 June 1820 Busca was unanimously elected Lieutenant of the Order by its Council; before the election three members of the Council had left because of their opposition to Busca's nomination. The Lieutenant was the head of the Order in the absence of a Grand Master (who would not be elected until 1879). In June 1821 Busca visited the Order's headquarters, the Convent, in Catania,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He was sworn in as Lieutenant and remained there two months before returning to Milan.Sire, 81. Like Andrea Di Giovanni y Centellés, his predecessor as Lieutenant, Busca unsuccessfully protested against the confiscation of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

from the Order and Britain's continued rule of the island. In 1822 he organised a volunteer contingent of knights from the Order to assist against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in the Greek War of Independence, reviving the Order's crusader ideals. The Order's administration was then based in Catania, too far from the centres of European power and exposed to foreign incursions, so in 1826 Busca moved it to Ferrara, then within the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. He was succeeded as Lieutenant on his death by

Carlo Candida Carlo Candida (Lucera, 7 October 1762 – Rome, January 1845) was a lieutenant of the Sovereign Order of Malta from 1834 to his death, succeeding Antonio Busca. Life Carlo Candida was from a noble family of Neapolitan origin. Before his electi ...

Notes

Sources

* Francesco Giuseppe Terrinoni ''Memorie storiche della resa di Malta ai francesi nel 1798'', tip. delle Belle Arti, Roma, 1867. {{DEFAULTSORT:Busca 1767 births 1834 deaths Nobility from Milan Lieutenants of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Military personnel from Milan