Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce

Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce
Lieutenant Grand Master (1871–1879) and Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (1879–1905)
In office 1871 – 24 January 1905
Preceded by	Alessandro Borgia
Succeeded by	Galeas von Thun und Hohenstein
Personal details
Born	1827 Trento, Austrian Empire
Died	24 January 1905 Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Nationality	Italian

Fra' Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce (Trento, 1827 – Rome, 24 January 1905) was Lieutenant of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1872 to 1879 and then Prince and Grand Master from 1879 until his death in 1905.

Ceschi was the second son of Luigi Ceschi a Santa Croce (1825-1905) and Countess Leopoldina von Thun und Hohenstein (1840-1906).

On February 14, 1872, Ceschi was elected Lieutenant of the Order in succession to Alessandro Borgia. On March 28, 1879, he was elected Prince and Grand Master, a decision approved by Pope Leo XIII on the same day. This made him the Order's first Grand Master after seventy years of lieutenants and a peripatetic existence - this had begun to end with its becoming permanently based in Rome from 1834 onwards (from about 1889 onwards it also had extraterritorial rights). During his tenure, Ceschi initiated the creation of national lay associations of the order, made up of knights who would remain lay people and not take religious vows.