Giovanni Battista Tommasi
| Giovanni Battista Tommasi | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Grand Master of the Order of Saint John | |
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In office 11 March 1803 – 13 June 1805 |
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| Preceded by | Nikolay Saltykov |
| Succeeded by | Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 October 1731 Cortona, Kingdom of Naples |
| Died | 13 June 1805 Catania, Kingdom of Sicily |
| Resting place | Catania |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Order of Saint John
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Frà Giovanni Battista Tommasi (Cortona, 6 October 1731 – Catania, 13 June 1805) was an Italian nobleman and 73rd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta.
He was born in the Kingdom of Naples and entered the Knights Hospitaller whilst still young, being sent to Malta aged 12 as a page of honour to Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto. At the end of his time as a page, he was attached to the 'caravans on the sea', in which he was recognised as one of the Order's best sailors. He was later made commander in chief of the Order's navy. He was also a freemason, being the founder member of a lodge with seven other knights of the Order of Malta (two of those seven were later made Grand Cross of the Order - the count of Litta, Grand Master Rohan's close friend Abel de Loras). Tommasi was decorated with Order's grand cross, entered its grand council and was entrusted with one important administrative role in the order after another. After bailli Mazei's death, in 1784, Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany made Tommasi minister to the Grand Master.
In 1798, however, Bonaparte captured Malta and grand master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim abdicated. Tommasi and the other knights were forced to leave the island and were scattered across Europe. An important section of the order regrouped in Russia and chose Paul I of Russia as Grand Master, but the pope did not recognise this election since he felt that the order could not be led by a married Russian Orthodox man who had never belonged to the order. On Paul's death, his son Alexander I of Russia decided to end this irregular situation and refused to be Grand Master. In the meantime the British had captured Malta and the Allied nations had agreed to re-establish the order, still dispersed across Europe and Russia and so unable to gather for a general assembly. The election of a new Grand Master was thus (for this instance only) deferred to the pope (then pope Pius VII), with each priory presenting a candidate to him - Tommasi (then in exile in Messina) was one of these candidates.
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