Saverio Cassar (29 December 1746 – 16 December 1805) was a Gozitan priest and patriot, who was

Governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

of an independent Gozo from 1798 to 1801. Cassar was born in Għajnsielem, in Nadur parish, Gozo on 29 December 1746. He studied in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, being ordained a priest on 30 March 1771. He was nominated archpriest of the Gozo Matrice in 1773, and he became Provicar of Gozo in 1775. On 3 September 1798, Gozitans rebelled against the French occupiers, and on 18 September Cassar was appointed head of the Government and Superintendent of the Island of Gozo. The French garrisons at the Cittadella and Fort Chambray surrendered to the British on 28 and 29 October, and the British handed over the island to Cassar. He subsequently ruled Gozo as an independent state, recognizing

Ferdinand III of Sicily Ferdinand I ( Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand IV and King of Sicily as Ferdinand III. He was ...

as king. Cassar also petitioned for establishing Gozo as a separate diocese (the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gozo was eventually created in 1864). The Maltese Congress of Mdina disapproved of Cassar's actions, and on 20 August 1801 the British appointed Emmanuele Vitale as Governor of Gozo instead of Cassar. Cassar died on 16 December 1805 at the age of 58.

References

1746 births 1805 deaths People from Victoria, Gozo 18th-century Maltese Roman Catholic priests Maltese rebels French occupation of Malta 18th-century Maltese politicians 19th-century Maltese politicians Governors of Gozo 19th-century Maltese Roman Catholic priests {{RC-clergy-stub