President of Corsica to Visit Paoli, the Island’s Twin City, to Establish Business, Cultural Ties

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Ed Auble, left, and Gilles Simeoni.

On April 4, the Paoli Business & Professional Association (PBPA) will welcome the President of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni, for a three-day visit to discuss establishing business and cultural ties with our area.

The visit has historical significance since the village of Paoli was named after Corsica’s General Pasquale di Paoli, the man who liberated Corsica in 1755 and wrote the first democratic constitution in Europe. That document would eventually become a model for our own constitution.

Accompanying Corsica’s president will be its President of the National Assembly, Jean-Guy Talamoni, and Foreign Minister, Nanette Maupertuis.

“For the top three people in the country to come here for this, it’s a big deal,” said Ed Auble, a two-time president of the PBPA and an organizer of the event. According to Auble, the Corsican President would be our equivalent of Governor Tom Wolf, whom the organizing committee hopes will attend one of the planned events.

Corsica, known by many for being the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, is a French Republic and the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean. The island’s economic life is based primarily on tourism, cheese-making, and the cultivation of citrus fruits, grapes, and olives.

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On July 17, 1755, Pasquale di Paoli was proclaimed Chief Executive Officer of the Nation and General of the Kingdom of Corsica. Soon, he and the Corsican people drew up a constitution that proclaimed national sovereignty and enabled the election of a representative National Assembly. The body had the power to raise taxes, pass laws, declare wars, and grant all citizens over the age of 25, including women, the right to vote.

The Assembly also elected a Supreme Council that served as the country’s executive authority.

“We were starting to agitate for freedom from England, and his democratic constitution, which was reported in the major newspapers of the day, resonated with the boys back here,” said Auble.

In about 1765, the village then known as Duffryn Mawr, was renamed Paoli to honor General Paoli. The initial connection to Corsica evolved in 1999 when Paoli became “twinned” with the town of Corte, Corsica, the site of the University of Corsica, and continues with the upcoming visit of the Corsica delegation.

A welcoming reception for the Corsican contingent of 18 to 20 guests is scheduled for April 4 from 6-8 PM at Daylesford Crossing, followed by a dinner at the Embassy Suites in Chesterbrook. The next day, a business conference and panel will be held at 2 Industrial Boulevard in Paoli.

Panel members will include representatives of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Brandywine Tourist Board, and President Simeoni will address the attendees.

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After lunch, invitees will travel to Easton for a reception and tour at Lafayette College, highlighting one of the many “French Connections” in our area. The final day of the delegation’s visit, April 6, will include a tour of local sites and visits to the National Constitution Center and Masonic Temple in Philadelphia.

“People have really stepped up for this,” Auble said.

Indeed, the PBPA’s only expense is the first night’s dinner, with every other event being sponsored by various groups. In terms of the potential business and cultural partnerships the two sides could form, Auble expects local leaders to present as many ideas as feasible, while listening to what the Corsican contingent can bring to the table.

“Once we hear what the objectives of the Corsican President are, we can come up with the names of people here who can address those matters,” he said.

No matter what business and cultural alliances are eventually formed, Auble hopes the three-day event will bring attention to the Island of Corsica that he was fortunate to visit last year on a fact-finding tour.

“The hospitality was wonderful, the beaches are lovely, and they have some beautiful scenery,” he said. “There are 330,000 people there, and they get two million visitors a year. I would hope after all this that people here would say, ‘We really ought to head over to that place and spend a little time there.’”

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