PASQUALE PAOLI
1725 - 1807

Pasquale Paoli, also spelled Pascal Paoli, was born on beautiful Corsica. In full, his name was Philippe Antoine Pascal Paoli.

Pasquale's nickname was Père de la Patrie, if you speak French, or Babbu di a Patria, if you speak Corsican (Corsu). Kind of the George Washington of the island. Another nickname, if on a slightly more formal note, was Général de la Nation.

Pasquale's father was Giacinto Paoli.

Among many other things, Paoli was responsible for creating a Corsican navy and founding Corsican universities and schools. Also, he had a heavy hand on politics.

And here is what Paoli's pen pal, the great Jean-Jacques Rousseau said.

There is still in Europe one country capable of being given laws — Corsica. The valor and persistency with which that brave people has regained and defended its liberty well deserves that some wise man should teach it how to preserve what it has won. I have a feeling that some day that little island will astonish Europe.

JJRousseau, Social Contract, Book 2, Chapter 10.

PASQUALE PAOLI'S BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
1725, April 26 - Birth at Stretta di Morosaglia, Corsica
1729 - The Corsicans gain independence of Genoa
1735, January 30 - Corsicans declare their independence at Orezza
1739 - Paoli goes into exile at Naples, Italy
1755 - Back to Corsica
1769 - France invades Corsica, Paoli flees to England, Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica
1789 - French Revolution starts
1790 - Back to Corsica
1795 - Back to England
1807, February 5 - Death at London, England

Check out an interview with some real Corsicans.

Paoli Trivia
The town of Paoli in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was named after Pasquale Paoli. Same goes for Paoli in Colorado.