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Corsican immigration to Venezuela

Corsican emmigration to Venezuela
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Notable Venezuelans of Corsican ancestry

Leoni durante discurso.jpg

Above:Raul Leoni, President of Venezuela
Bottom: Arturo Uslar Pietri


Leoni durante discurso.jpg

Above:Raul Leoni, President of Venezuela
Bottom: Arturo Uslar Pietri

Corsicans, coming mainly from the regions of Cap Corse and La Castagniccia in the mediterranean island of Corsica, started arriving in the first third of the 19th century and settled mainly in the coastal towns of Carúpano and Rio Caribe. Known locally as Los Corsos, Corsicans played a central role in the development of the cocoa industry in Venezuela. Around the 1950s many Corsican families left Paria and settled in Caracas, and have been active in politics, commerce, medicine and the arts.

The first Corsicans to settle in Venezuela were sailors and missionaries, who moved from the island when was part of the Italian Republic of Genoa, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

During the reign of Napoleon III Corsica suffered a decline in agricultural production (particularly in the wine, olive and chestnut industries) due to unfair trade practices imposed by France. That coupled with a population boom due to the eradication of malaria in coastal areas, forced many Corsican families to emigrate to the Caribbean.

The first wave of Corsicans arrived in the Venezuelan region of Paria around 1830. Antonio Oletta, Francisco and Cayetano Morandi, José Vicente Franceschi and Juan Bautista Lucca were some of the first Corsicans to settle in the town of Carúpano. Once in Paria, many Corsicans founded cocoa exporting firms, most notable being that of the Franceschi & Co, established in 1830 and still existing today, making it one of Venezuela's oldest companies.


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Wikipedia

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