Gozitan Patriot

Saverio Cassar studied in Rome, graduated as a doctor of Divinity and was ordained priest in Rome on 30 March 1771 by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Francesco Mattei. Cassar was nominated archpriest of the Gozo Matrice directly by Pope Clement XIV on 20 April 1773. He was created Provicar of Gozo on 1 January 1775, and he was chosen head of the Government and Superintendent of the Island of Gozo on 18 September 1798.

Soon after the rising against the French on 2 September 1798, the Gozitans decided to co-ordinate their effort and formed a provisional local government made up of nine well-known people, with Archpriest Cassar of the collegiate church in the Citadel as head of government and inspector general. He was a born leader with a dynamic personality, a steely willpower, and an awe-inspiring bearing - characteristics that made him the only arbiter of life in Gozo.

Cassar organised the dejma and obtained weapons and foodstuffs from foreign leaders. He collected money to pay the troops under his command and even arrested pro-French partisans, including three canons. He met Nelson and discussed the terms of capitulation of the French which took place on 28 October 1798. Thus Gozo was liberated and became an independent entity.

As governor-general and governing head for the king of Naples, Cassar organised the administration, reopened the law courts, elected new jurats, opened a custom house, and even wanted to make Gozo an autonomous diocese. He was responsible for internal affairs and foreign policy. However, the Maltese congress disapproved of these actions and the British replaced him by Emanuele Vitale as governor of Gozo.

On the 200th anniversary of Cassar’s death, a monument at Independence Square, Victoria, Gozo was inaugurated by then President of the Republic, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.