Sotheby’s Auctioneer Elected Grand Master of the Knights of Malta

ROME—Sotheby’s auctioneer Matthew Festing has been elected as the 79th Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, a Roman Catholic chivalric order established in the 11th century during the Crusades, the Times (London) reports. The secret-ballot election took place March 11 at a papal-style conclave in the order's headquarters on the Aventine Hill in Rome.

The Knights, who are also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, carry out charitable and medical operations in 120 countries. The organization has recently been attempting to dispel rumors that it is rich and secretive (see the Da Vinci Code), and the election of Festing, who is seen as a reformer, is a sign that they plan to be more open and to better publicize their charitable acts. 

Festing, a descendant of Sir Adrian Fortescue, a Knight of Malta martyred in 1539, was admitted to the order in 1977. In 1988 he became a Knight of Justice, in 1991 he took perpetual vows, and he has recently served as Grand Prior of the British Association, Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Malta (BASMOM). Festing’s father was also a member of the order, and his brother Andrew Festing is president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and a favorite of the British royal family.

Grand Masters, like Popes, are elected for life. Until his final breath, Matthew Festing will carry the title "His Most Eminent Highness."