The first Corsican Constitution was drawn up in 1755 for the short-lived

Corsican Republic In November 1755, Pasquale Paoli proclaimed Corsica a sovereign nation, the Corsican Republic ( it, Repubblica Corsa), independent from the Republic of Genoa. He created the Corsican Constitution, which was the first constitution written in Ital ...

independent from Genoa beginning in 1755, and remained in force until the annexation of Corsica by France in 1769. It was written in Tuscan Italian, the language of elite culture and people in Corsica at the time. It was drafted by

Pasquale Paoli Filippo Antonio Pasquale de' Paoli (; french: link=no, Pascal Paoli; 6 April 1725 – 5 February 1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who was at the forefront of resistance movements against the Genoese and later ...

, and inspired by

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revol ...

, who, commissioned by the Corsicans wrote " Projet de constitution pour la Corse," in 1763. The second Corsican Constitution was drawn up in 1794 for the short-lived (1794–96)

Anglo-Corsican Kingdom The Anglo-Corsican Kingdom ( Italian: ''Regno Anglo-Corso''; Corsican: ''Riame anglo-corsu'', ''Riamu anglu-corsu''), also known as the Kingdom of Corsica ( Italian: ''Regno di Corsica''; Corsican: ''Regnu di Corsica''), was a client state of ...

and introduced suffrage for all property owners. It was also considered a highly democratic constitution for its time.

Linda Colley Dame Linda Jane Colley, (born 13 September 1949 in Chester, England) is an expert on British, imperial and global history from 1700. She is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and a long-term fellow in history ...

credits Paoli as writing the first ever written constitution of a nation state.

Notes

External links

Text of constitution (in French)

Second Corsican constitution (1794)
1755 in law 1794 in law Democracy

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

Constitutions of former countries 1755 documents 1794 documents {{Italy-stub