Petru Giovacchini (, ; 1 February 1910 – 29 September 1955) was a Corsican activist, born in Canale-di-Verde to an old family of the Corsican nobility with deep-rooted pro-Italian feelings. Giovacchini was the most renowned of the Corsican Italians, who actively promoted the unification of Corsica to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

during the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

years.

Life

Since young he collaborated with writings to the literary newspaper ''A Muvra''. In 1927, he was expelled from the "Liceo National" of

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

and founded the pro-Italian magazine "Primavera", where he published the poems "Musa canalinca" and "Rime notturne". Giovacchini was disappointed with the moderate positions of the ''Movimento Autonomista Corso'' and decided to move to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1930 to study medicine at the Pisa University. In Italy Giovacchini entered in contact with the Italian

irredentism Irredentism () is one State (polity), state's desire to Annexation, annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by Ethnicity, ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the ...

movement and because of this was harshly attacked by the French authorities when he returned to Corsica. One of the main accusations he received was that he considered

Pasquale Paoli Filippo Antonio Pasquale de' Paoli (; or ; ; 6 April 1725 – 5 February 1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who was at the forefront of resistance movements against the Republic of Genoa, Genoese and later Kingd ...

(the hero of Corsica) as the precursor of the Corsican irredentism in favor of the unification of the island to Italy. He escaped to Italy and in November 1933, founded in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

the famous "Gruppi di Cultura Corsa", with Corsican university students in Italy. In 1936, Giovacchini got his degree and, as a member of the

Party, he quickly volunteered to fight in

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and successively in

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, where he was wounded and got the "bronze" medal of honor. In June 1940, Giovacchini organized hundreds of manifestations in many cities of Italy in order to request the Corsica unification to Italy. Because of this he was elected to represent Corsica in the Italian Fascist Parliament in 1942. When Italy occupied Corsica in November 1942, Giovacchini was named as the possible ''Governor of Corsica'' if the

were to annex the island of Corsica. He worked with colonel Petru Simone Cristofini to make the Corsican population accept the Italian occupation of Corsica (and later a possible union to Italy). After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Giovacchini was forced to hide until 1945. Prosecuted by a French tribunal in Corsica, he received a death sentence in 1945 and so went in exile to Canterano (near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

). In September 1955, Giovacchini died, as a consequence of former combat wounds, and since his death, is considered one of the most famous Corsican Italians of the Italian Irredentism era.

Works

The literary works of Petru Giovacchini were: *''Musa Canalinca'' (1929) *''Rime notturne'' (1930) *''Aurore, poesie corse'' (1936) *''Corsica Nostra'' (1942) *''Archiatri pontifici corsi'' (1951) The Corsican Italians who promoted the ideal of Corsican irredentism published mainly in Italy, because of the persecutions from the French regime in the island. This was the case of Petru Giovacchini, who (after his initial poems ''Musa canalinca'' and ''Rime notturne'', done when young) wrote his main literary works in Italy. Indeed, he wrote ''Aurore, poesie corse'' in 1936 in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, followed by ''Corsica nostra'' and the ''Archiatri pontifici corsi'' in 1942 and 1951 in

(the last, just a few years before his premature death).

External links

Excerpt about "Corsica nostra", book of Petru Giovacchini (in Italian)

Bibliography

* Mastroserio, Giuseppe. ''Petru Giovacchini – Un Patriota esule in Patria''. Editrice Proto. Bari, 2004. * Vignoli, Giulio. ''Gli Italiani Dimenticati'' Ed. Giuffè. Roma, 2000 * ''Vita e Tragedia dell'Irredentismo Corso'', Rivista Storia Verità, n.4, 1997

Life

Works

External links

Bibliography

See also