Count Preziosi is a title of Maltese nobility. The current count is Dr. Josef Preziosi, the 10th Count. His heir is his daughter, Marie Christine Preziosi, styled the Continessina Preziosi (If the present Count obtains an extention to the patent from the Royal House of Savoy to his daughters and their male descendants).

History

The title of Conte Preziosi was created in 1718 at Rivoli by King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and Duca di Savioe, with reminder to the legitimate and natural descendants in perpetuity. This title can be inherited by all of the first Count's legitimate and natural descendants virilis sexes. Since King Victor Amadeus didn't resist the succession under the rule of primogeniture. This title could be enjoyed contemporaneously by all the grantee's male descendants ad usum longobardun.

First Count

Giuseppe Preziosi, nicknamed "Il-Tripolino," was a Corsican privateer who fought on the side of Venice in the war of the Morea and was rewarded with a pension and a knighthood in 1700. When in 1718, a Spanish force blocked Sicily, the Sicilian Admiral asked Grand Master Perellos for help. The Grand Master sent Preziosi who provided the necessary supplies to the Sicilian fleet allowing it to break the Spanish blockade.

The Preziosi were Corsicans who used Malta as an advanced base for their privateering in the Levant. By far, the central figure of this family was Giuseppe Preziosi. The first time that we hear of him in Malta was in the summer of 1702, when he entered the Valletta harbour with three large Turkish vessels which had captured in the Levant. He was accomanied by his brother Gio Andrea Preziosi, and his friend Antonio Fournier.

There were two reasons for his visit to Malta. Apart from wanting to harbor his captured vessels and dispose of his prizes, Preziosi wanted to collect 40 zecchini which his uncle Antonio Maria had bequeathed. Giuseppe's father, Geronimo Preziosi, and his uncle Antonio Maria, were also Corsairs. By the turn of the century Geronimo had retired from privateering whilst Antonio Maria was contemplating to undertake his last corso. Before this attempt, on the 24 November 1699, he lent the sum of 480 zecchini to another corsair, Albano Poussieghes, on condition that if he did not survive his forthcoming voyage, Poussieghes would have to give 40 zecchini to Giuseppe Preziosi, and use the remainder to put an altar in Corsica dedicated to St. Anthony of Padova. In August 1701, Antonio's ship entered Valletta harbor with the news that its captain had died of a wound received ina skirmish.

For this deed, Preziosi was made a Count by the King of Sicily.

By the time the notorious corsair Giuseppe Preziosi became a Count, he had already been married three times. The first wife was of Greek origin.

Second Count

Gio. Francesco. Before their appointments to the Secrezia many of the office-holders had acquired substantial wealth, which they either inherited, or shared through marriage. The few who had built up their family fortunes had already established their influences before occupying the office. Even when Count Gio Francesco Preziosi was in financial trouble with the Secrezia, there was no way for him to utilize his position to pay off debts. Before his appointment, the inquisitor had remarked that the Preziosi family was one of the richest in Malta but in June 1759, less than twenty years after his appointment, he was compelled to sell most of his silver treasures to settle his accounts with the Secrezia. Apparently this was not enough because two years later, Pinto advised Preziosi to auction a large part of his estate in order to settle all his outstanding debts.

The young Gio Francesco, however, did not endeavor to follow his father's footsteps. He had always aspired to a title and, when it came his way, he was determined to live to it. In 1741 he was appointed Secreto of Grand Master Pinto, whom he faithfully served in this capacity for the next 32 years.
It appears that the link between this family and the corso was never broken since throughout the eighteenth century, there was always a Preziosi at sea. However, evidence shows that it was the untitled side of the family who carried on this tradition, because the titled branch had progressed from Corsairs to Counts.

Third Count

Luigi, a member of the renowned family of Corsairs, who married Matilde Camilleri, whose family was also involved in privateering.

Fourth Count

Gio. Francesco
The family of Preziosi, one of the wealthiest in the early Eighteenth century, was financially ruined by the third quarter of that century. In 1757, Count Preziosi was obliged to dispose of all his silverware as he owed thousands of scudi. Although the Count was in the employment of Pinto, it was this Grand Master who forced Preziosi to sell many possessions and ordered the auction of the Count's precious items to repay some of the larger debts, particularly to the Count's sister. It is probable that Preziosi had grossly overspent in the construction of his magnificent villa at Lija.

Fifth Count

The fifth Count, Amadeo Preziosi (1816-1882), was an Italian painter. He was descended from a family which had migrated from Corsica to Malta in the 17th century and been awarded a title by the king of Sicily. Preziosi was born in Valletta on 2 December 1816, and spent his childhood and youth in Malta. His father Count Gio François was an eminent figure in Malta and a wealthy man.

Preziosi was educated by private tutors, and his passion for drawing and painting began as a child. Although he studied law in compliance with his parents’ wishes he eventually abandoned this profession to devote himself to painting, first entering the studio of Giuseppe Hyzler, and subsequently going to France to complete his art education at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts. This was a time when European painters were flocking to the Gateway to the East, as Istanbul was known, and under this influence Preziosi packed up his paints and brushes and set out from Malta in 1842, travelling first to Italy and then to Istanbul.

He notes in his memoirs that his original intention had been to stay for two years, but so absorbed did he become in the sights and bewitching atmosphere of Istanbul that it held him like a magnet, and he hardly noticed the passing of the years. Sketchbook under arm he wandered its streets, caught up in an increasing love for the city and its people. Istanbul returned Preziosi’s affection, and he was welcomed everywhere, in tiny back street shops, coffee houses, hamams (Turkish baths), and places of worship. In his canvases he immortalised the humdrum sights of daily life: a street seller, a dancing bear, a woman filling her water jar at a street fountain. Through his eyes we also see the blue waters of the Bosphorus with caiques gliding along, pavilions and palaces. His paintings sold well among local and foreign customers alike, who hung them on the walls of their grand houses and palaces.

Despite his father’s entreaties Amadeo Preziosi refused to return to Malta, where the other members of his family followed ‘respectable’ careers as doctors, merchants and lawyers. He remained loyal to the passionate loves of his life: Istanbul and painting.

As well as his mother tongue of Italian, Preziosi spoke French, Greek, English and Turkish. He married an Istanbul Greek woman and the couple had four children, three girls and one boy. For many years they lived in Beyoglu, at number 14 Hamalbasi Sokak near the present British Consulate. When he wanted to get away from the bustle of city life he went to Yeşilköy, then an outlying country district on the Marmara coast. Here he had friends among the Levantine families, and spent much time hunting. This area west of Istanbul was famous for its game until engulfed by the growing city during the 20th century, and Preziosi purchased a hunting lodge where he spent much of his time.

On 27 September 1882, when he was 65, he was hunting with a party around Yeşilköy when he accidentally dropped his rifle. It went off, causing injuries of which Preziosi died the following day.

Lithographs of Preziosi’s paintings were published in two albums, Stamboul: Recollections of Eastern Life In 1858, and Stamboul: Souvenir d’Orient in 1861. In 1883, the year after his death, a third album was published entitled: Encyclopedie Des Arts Decoratifs de L’Orient: Stamboul - Moeurs et Costumes.

This held a foreword by Victor Champier, who wrote of Preziosi and the Istanbul which he depicted:
"Istanbul... This word sounds to the ear like a battle cry or a song of victory. Istanbul is the name given by the Turks to this glorious city, once known as Byzantium and today also as Constantinople. It is Istanbul, with its winding streets, markets, picturesque excursion places and curious sights, whose life and true substance Monsieur Amadeo Preziosi presents to us in his watercolours. Certainly one rarely encounters an artist who has left his homeland at a young age, and made a home for himself in the bosom of a civilisation little known even in Europe. This is an artist whose eyes have been rinsed in the splendid light of the Orient, enabling him to capture the depth of its meaning and enjoy the happiness of sensing the strength and capacity of its spirit."

Count Preziosi’s paintings were exhibited in Paris and London in 1858, 1863 and 1867. For some years he was court painter to Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and today examples can be seen in the Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Topkapi Palace, the Naval Museum and several private collections.

Preziosi was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Yeşilköy, where his grave still stands today.

Sixth Count

The title of Count succeeded from father to son until Roberto, the 6th Count Preziosi in 1917, died unmarried and was succeeded by his first cousin.

Seventh Count

Alfredo, the 7th Count, married a member of the Azzopardi family (Baron of Buleben) and the title has succeeded from father to son until the present day.

Eighth Count

Luigi.
Luigi was one of the few Maltese who distinguished himself at an international level.

Ninth Count

Dr. Franz Preziosi, succeeded by his son 17 April 2000. In spite of his high social and academic standing, the word which describes Franz best is "humble." He would come down to friend level with all his patients. The unhurried
thoroughness he dedicated to his patients inspired limitless confidence.
No patients shied away from asking questions. He was an outstanding model of a dying breed of gentlemen medical specialists.

Tenth Count

The 10th and present Count is Dr. Josef John, M.R.C.S.(Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (ENG.), L.R.C.P. (Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians), (London).

References

1) Said Vassallo, C.M., Unpublished research papers.

2) Said Vassallo, C.M., Charles Said-Vassallo's Research site and Maltese Nobility web site.

This research was done by Charles Said-Vassallo. (Text originally based on that of a website by Charles Said Vassallo, by permission.)