Saveria Moscati

Saveria Moscat, Baroness di Frigenuini (1760-1797) was a Maltese noblewoman

Saveria grew up with her mother in Valletta before her mother moved to Sliema, Malta. At a young age, patronage was a plentiful and a potential suitor was at her mother’s house. Saveria was possibly looking to make a name for herself and perhaps, like her famous grand mother, become an actress in the Maltese Opera.

A potential Maltese nobleman had entrusted Saveria to become his mistress and also get a start in her career as an actress, though with many unfulfilled promises nothing had eventuated. The Marquis de Piro had also served in the Army and would come and go. By that stage, Saveria had borne him a son in 1774 and demanded to fulfil his promise or she would leave. Finally Saveria was given a chance to perform in an opera and soon famed to a dizzy height to perform in front of the Grand Master de Rohan. The Grand Master de Rohan had honoured her performance with the title of her mother’s “A Maltese noblewomen successful debut, the Baroness di Frigenuini”, thus becoming her stage name. On the year 1778, Saveria bore another son Carmelo Moscati de Piro and continued to perform at the famous Maltese Opera. The Baroness di Frigenuini was invited to Sicily to perform under the patronage of the Prime Minister and the King of Two Sicilies.

Saveria eventually moved from Valletta in 1780 to try her success in Naples and she took on a new patronage of Lord Archibald Douglas Hamilton, the son of the Duke of Hamilton of England. The Baroness di Frigenuini had become very popular and continued to stay in Naples for a few years, going back to Malta seeing her children and their education progress.

After a year had passed, Saveria had found herself pregnant by the Lord Archibald and had a son called Archibald and three daughters in succession. Her children were becoming a demand on her, so which she adopted one of her children to a nanny in Malta to be looked after and the others were looked after in Naples.

After 1787, Saveria was losing her position as the Donna of the Opera in Naples and soon her patronage of the Lord Archibald. Immediately retrying to revamp her career and even begging a Royal Prince of the Bourbon Sicilies for patronage. It’s noted that her youngest child might be of Royal blood, as her lover was not in Naples close to a year. Eventually, the Royal Prince of Bourbon Sicilies had taken Saveria under his patronage and she retired to a village near Reggio di Calabria. The year of 1797 she died at her home at Reggio di Calabria and was buried at a local village church cemetery.

Her children from her first lover had grown up and started careers of their own. Her eldest son, Alexandre Moscati de Piro was forced to flee Malta after raping a noblewomen and first arrived to live with his mother in Reggio di Calabria, then served as a Senator for Messina. We treat further below. Her second son, Carmelo Moscati de Piro had entered the Army of the Order, and then commissioned to serve under the Grand Ducal Army of Hesse, where he died in Action. We treat further below.

Saveria's eldest son by Lord Archibald was Archibald Moscati who moved to Palermo and served as a court official and married a Sicilian heiress taking on her surname and titles. Her daughters, Antonia had married to a Don Claudio Fabre; Rosalea whom was adopted by the Galea family had married a Maltese Giuseppe Moscati and Saveria youngest daughter Fiametta Moscati had married the illegitimate son of the Prince di Ruffo.

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