Italians in France

Italian migration into what is today France has been going on, in different migrating cycles, for centuries, beginning in prehistoric times right to the modern age. In addition, Corsica passed from the Republic of Genoa to France in 1768, and the county of Nice and Savoy from the Kingdom of Sardinia to France in 1860. According to Robin Cohen, "about 5 million French nationals are of Italian origin if their parentage is retraced over three generations". According to official data of the Eurostat for 2012, the number of Italian citizens residing in France was 174,000.

History of Italians in France

Middle Ages and Renaissance

There has always been migration, since ancient times, between what is today Italy and France. This is especially true of the regions of northwestern Italy and southeastern France. As Italian wealth and influence grew during the Middle Ages, many Florentine, Genoese and Venetian traders, bankers and artisans settled, usually through family branches, throughout France. Regions of significant Italian diaspora sprang up as far north as Paris and Flanders. However it was not much as a percentage of the French global population.

This Italian migration developed more through the Renaissance, as previous generations became assimilated. Italian artists, writers and architects were called upon by the French monarchy and aristocrats, leading to a significant interchange of culture, but it was not a massive immigration of popular classes.

Since the 16th century, Florence and its citizens have long enjoyed a very close relationship with France. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Catherine de' Medici married Henry, the second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médici, she became Queen consort of France when Henry ascended to the throne in 1547. Later on, after Henry died, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III.

Other notable examples of Italians that played a major role in the history of France include Cardinal Mazarin, born in Pescina was a cardinal, diplomat and politician, who served as the chief minister of France from 1642 until his death in 1661. Mazarin succeeded his mentor, Cardinal Richelieu, and extended France's political ambitions not only within Italy but towards England as well.

Enrico Tonti, born near Gaeta, Italy (1649/50 - 1704) was an Italian-born soldier, explorer, and fur trader in the service of France. He was the son of Lorenzo de Tonti, a financier and former governor of Gaeta. Enrico was second in command of the La Salle expedition on his descent of the Mississippi River. Tonti's letters and journals are valuable source materials on these explorations.

Enrico's brother, Pierre Alphonse de Tonti, or Alphonse de Tonty, Baron de Paludy (ca. 1659 – 10 November 1727) was an officer who served under the French explorer Cadillac and helped establish the first European settlement at Detroit, Michigan, Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit on the Detroit River in 1701. Several months later, both Cadillac and Tonty brought their wives to the fort, making them the first European women to travel into the interior of North America. He was the son of Lorenzo de Tonti who was a financier and former governor of Gaeta. Lorenzo de Tonti was the inventor of the form of life insurance known as the tontine. Henri de Tonti, involved in LaSalle's exploration of the Mississippi River and the establishment of the first settlement in Arkansas, was his older brother.

Modern period

Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor and general, was ethnically Italian of Corsican origin, whose family was of Genoese and Tuscan ancestry.

Italian popular immigration to France only began in the late 18th century, really developed from the end of the 19th century until the World War I and became quite massive after this war. France needed workforce to compensate for the war losses and its very low birthrate. Initially, Italian immigration to modern France (late 18th to the early 20th century) came predominantly from northern Italy (Piedmont, Veneto), then from central Italy (Marche, Umbria), mostly to the bordering southeastern region of Provence. It wasn't until after World War II that large numbers of immigrants from southern Italy immigrated to France, usually settling in industrialised areas of France, such as Lorraine, Paris and Lyon.

Demographics

The 2021 Report "Rapporto Italiano Nel Mondo 2021" Italian Report in the World 2021, recorded 444,113 Italian-born people.

Autochthonous populations

In both the County of Nice, parts of Savoy, "Italian" can refer to autochthonous speakers of Ligurian and Piedmontese languages, natives in the region since before annexation to France, and also to descendants of Italians that migrated to the areas when they were part of Italian states. The number of inhabitants with Italian ancestry is generally indeterminable, and the use of French language is now ubiquitous. In addition, Corsica was a part of the Republic of Genoa until 1768 and many Corsicans speak along with French the Corsican language, closely related to the Tuscan dialect of Italian.

Notable Italian French people

The list is organized chronologically, listing Italians in France by birth date periods

First half of the 19th century

* Bonaparte family
* Philippe Antoine d'Ornano (1784–1863), general and cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte
* Louis-Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881), politician.
* Henri Cernuschi (''Enrico Cernuschi''; 1821–1896), banker, journalist, and art collector (born in Milan). His collection is known as the Musée Cernuschi
* Virginia Oldoini (1837–1899), mistress of Emperor Napoleon III
* Léon Gambetta (1838–1882), lawyer and politician (his father was from Genoa)
* Émile Zola (1840–1902), writer and politician (his father, Francesco Zolla, was born in Venice)
* Philippe Solari (1840–1906), artist
* Joseph Galliéni (1849–1916), French officer (father from Lombardy)
* Jean-François Raffaëlli, (1850–1924), artist
* Raoul Pugno (1852–1914), composer, pianist
* Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (''Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà''; 1852–1905), explorer (born at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome)
* Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835), Italian-born opera composer
* Gioachino Rossini, (1792–1868) composer

Second half of the 19th century

* Clément Castelli (1870–1959), Italian-born painter (from Premia, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola region)
* Vincent Scotto (1874–1952), composer
* Ricciotto Canudo (1879–1923), Italian-born writer (from Gioia del Colle)
* Ettore Bugatti (1881–1947), Italian-born automobile designer and manufacturer (from Milan)
* Rembrandt (Annibale) Bugatti (1884–1916), Italian-born sculptor (from Milan)
* Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884–1920), Italian-born painter and sculptor (from Livorno)
* Henri Bosco (Fernand Marius Bosco) (1888–1976), novelist
* Michel Carlini (1889–1967), lawyer and politician
* Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973), Italian-born fashion designer (from Rome)
* Jean Giono (1895–1970), novelist (Italian ancestry)
* José Corti (''José Corticchiato''; 1895–1984), publisher
* Lazare Ponticelli (''Lazzaro Ponticelli''; 1897–2008), Italian-born veteran of the First World War (from Bettola, near Piacenza)
* Paul Belmondo (1898–1982), sculptor (born in Algiers of Italian ancestry)
* Cino Del Duca (1899–1967), Italian-born businessman, film producer and philanthropist (from Montedinove, Ascoli Piceno)
* Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic (born in Rome)

1900s

* Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin dit Fernandel (1903–1971), actor and singer
* Stéphane Grappelli (''Stefano Grappelli''; 1908–1997), jazz violinist (his father was from Alatri, near Frosinone)

1910s

* Rina Ketty (''Rina Pichetto''; 1911–1996), Italian-born singer (from Sarzana)
* Marcel Bich (1914–1994), Italian-born manufacturer and co-founder of Bic (from Turin)
* Édith Piaf (''Édith Giovanna Gassion''; 1915–1963), singer (her mother, Line Marsa, born in Livorno, was of Italian-Berber descent)
* Achille Zavatta (1915–1993), clown
* Léo Ferré (1916–1993), Singer and songwriter
* Henri Betti (1917–2005) composer and pianist (his father is born in Savona and his grandfather is born in Parma).
* Giuseppe Tacca (1917-1984), cyclist
* Claude Barma (1918–1992), director and screenwriter
* Jeanne Modigliani (1918-1984), historian
* Adolphe Deledda (1919-2003), cyclist

1920s

* César Baldaccini (1921–1998), sculptor
* Georges Brassens (1921–1981), singer
* Émile Bongiorni (1921–1949), footballer
* Stellio Lorenzi (1921–1990), screenwriter
* Yves Montand (''Ivo Livi'') (1921–1991), actor and singer
* Roger Grava (1922–1949), footballer
* Serge Reggiani (1922–2004), singer
* Pierre Cardin (''Pietro Cardin'') (1922–2020), fashion designer
* François Cavanna (1923–2014), author
* Marcel Zanini (born 1923), jazz musician
* Armand Gatti (1924–2017), also known as Dante Savoir Gatti, poet, author, playwright, director, screenwriter, producer, journalist
* Michel Piccoli (1925–2020), actor
* Raphaël Géminiani (born 1925), cyclist
* Philippe Castelli (1926–2006), actor
* Marcel Azzola (1927–2019), accordionist
* Remo Forlani (1927–2009), writer and screenwriter
* Emmanuelle Riva (1927–2017), actress
* Albert Uderzo (1927–2020), comic author
* Daniel Filipacchi (born 1928), photographer, art collector and publisher
* Jean Dotto (1928–2013), photographer and designer
* Luc Ferrari (1929–2005), composer
* Claude Nougaro (1929–2004), jazz singer and poet

1930s

* Bernard Stasi (1930–2011), politician
* Robert Enrico (1931–2001), film director
* Roger Piantoni (1931–2018), footballer
* Annie Fratellini (1932–1997), circus artist, clown, singer and film actress
* Francesca Solleville (born 1932), singer
* Paul Virilio (1932–2018), philosopher, cultural theorist and urbanist
* Max Gallo (1932–2017), writer, historian and politician
* Pierre Milza (1932–2018), historian
* Jean-Paul Belmondo (born 1933), actor
* Loris Azzaro, (1933–2003), fashion designer and perfumer, born in Tunisia to Sicilian parents.
* Dalida (''Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti'') (1933–1987), singer, actress and Miss Egypt 1954.
* Emanuel Ungaro (1933–2019), fashion designer
* Nino Ferrer (''Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari'') (1934–1998), singer
* Lucien Bianchi (1934–1969), racing driver
* Pia Colombo (''Eliane Marie Amélie'') (1934–1986), singer
* Claude Faraldo (1936–2008), actor, screenwriter and film director
* Bruno Gigliotti (Orlando) (born 1936), music producer
* Christiane Martel

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