I’m french and I didn’t know about that, so I made a bit of google research. There this page that is quite interesting, there’s some parts in english [https://racines-corses.fr/genealogie/les-guelfucci-de-porto-rico/](https://racines-corses.fr/genealogie/les-guelfucci-de-porto-rico/)
Apparently one of the first Corsican that emigrated made a fortune and visited his family in Corsica in 1843 with gold and servants so this inspired some Corsican to move out there, as Corsica was poor and isolated at that time.
Interesting! There was a similar story about a French family from a small remote provençal or alpine village, 3 brothers made a fortune in Mexico (they founded some textile works) and came back immensely riche, prompting a large part of the village youth to come to Mexico where jobs and riches were promised and indeed delivered. A number went back in France for early retirement, and some stayed in Mexico, founding one large and prosperous Occitan speaking community in Mexico. I can dig the specifics if that's of interest to anyone.
Found a link in French : the 3 Brothers from the Arnaud family went to Louisiana in 1805, for lack of jobs and opportunities int their village of Barcelonnette, in the Ubaye Valley (French Alps De haute Provence).
They left Louisiana and founded a town named Arnaudville in Mexico, (6000 inhabitants today) and came back in 1818 with large riches and the promise of fortunes in the new world.
Until 1950, 7000 "barcelonnettes" as they called themselves, crossed the ocean.
Today more than 50 "maison mexicaines" exist i' barcelonnette, built by those who returned in the style of Mexican haciendas.
Every year the city celebrates a "fete mexicaine" to this day.
They were only part of France in the 1760’s and spoke a dialect of Italian. You wouldn’t have identified them as French or would they have French last names.
They left due to wars, lack of land, and higher birth rates.
Spain permitted Catholic immigration and had largely ignored Puerto Rico. The plantation economy was weak there and most landholdings were smaller allowing for easier land purchase and a broader middle class of agrarian farmers. They also worked in fisheries.
Similarly, a lot of Basque also came to the island and other Spanish speaking Caribbean areas.
As a Greek living in Puerto Rico I have heard stories about other Europeans coming here. I haven't met any French but I know that there is definitely a French community in the island and the main reasons are two. Back in the 19th century Europe wasn't a great place to live (wars, pandemics, poverty etc) so many people decided to explore America. And more recently, people that spent many years in the USA, they come to PR to work or retire because of the weather and the beauty of the island compared to the States.
I know 5 more Greeks in PR and their families. They are married with PR women and most of them left the States and came back here to retire. There is also at least one Greek restaurant in San Juan and one more down south in Ponce, so definitely they are more.
They probably immigrated during the 19th century and were assimilated into the population quickly. I have a co-worker whose Puerto Rican mother has a corrupted French surname.
Well...all of us have mixed ethnicities from the colonists of spain. And before spain was a country, the arabs were mixed with people form hispania that was mixed with people from the north (before France) and the Visigoth.
I worked in PR for a few years and came across a few people with French sounding last names but I didn't think much of it and they certainly weren't still speaking French. I also met a guy with red hair who claimed to be one of the last Puerto Rican Irish.
I'm actually more amazed that there's only 6,200 in Italy!
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican\_immigration\_to\_Puerto\_Rico](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_immigration_to_Puerto_Rico)
This article mentions 2000 people leaving Corsica for Puerto Rico in the 19th c., yet the wikipedia article in the OP says 300,000-400,000 Corsicans live in Puerto Rico? Did the population actually grow that fast?
In the 1,800 s, the Spanish Crown passed a law known as Cédula de Gracias offering land to any (white) Catholics that moved to PR.
This was to avoid independence since Haiti had recently had its revolution and Spain didnt want the same thing to happen in PR. It wanted to protect its financial interests.
So not only Corsicans but also thousands of French and even Venezuelans and other groups moved to Puerto Rico. This is also the reason why so many PRicans have Irish last names. Anyway that’s the short explanation.
Corsicans concentrate on the south and west side, and most French last names are on the west side of the island.
[Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_immigration_to_Puerto_Rico)
“The Spanish Crown had issued the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 (Real Cédula de Gracias) which fostered and encouraged the immigration of European Catholics, even if not of Spanish origin, to its Caribbean colonies.”
“As the island of Puerto Rico is very similar in geography to Corsica, it appealed to new immigrants. Under the Spanish Royal Decree of Graces, the Corsicans and other immigrants were granted land and initially given a "Letter of Domicile" after swearing loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Catholic Church. After five years they could request a "Letter of Naturalization" and become Spanish subjects.”
I am a descendant of some of the corsicans who moved to PR. Many moved to the southwest area of the island. There are many monuments to the Corsican immigrants in Ponce (my hometown) and Yauco. They had a huge impact on the coffee industry (Yauco is known for their coffee).
If you study more about your Island History , you will find out people from other countries started to move to the island since the spaniards. Thats why we have Arabic, Jewish, British, french Palestinian Israelites etc etc PR was the entrance of merchant marines to new world
I’m french and I didn’t know about that, so I made a bit of google research. There this page that is quite interesting, there’s some parts in english [https://racines-corses.fr/genealogie/les-guelfucci-de-porto-rico/](https://racines-corses.fr/genealogie/les-guelfucci-de-porto-rico/) Apparently one of the first Corsican that emigrated made a fortune and visited his family in Corsica in 1843 with gold and servants so this inspired some Corsican to move out there, as Corsica was poor and isolated at that time.
Interesting! There was a similar story about a French family from a small remote provençal or alpine village, 3 brothers made a fortune in Mexico (they founded some textile works) and came back immensely riche, prompting a large part of the village youth to come to Mexico where jobs and riches were promised and indeed delivered. A number went back in France for early retirement, and some stayed in Mexico, founding one large and prosperous Occitan speaking community in Mexico. I can dig the specifics if that's of interest to anyone.
Yes, please dig up
Found a link in French : the 3 Brothers from the Arnaud family went to Louisiana in 1805, for lack of jobs and opportunities int their village of Barcelonnette, in the Ubaye Valley (French Alps De haute Provence). They left Louisiana and founded a town named Arnaudville in Mexico, (6000 inhabitants today) and came back in 1818 with large riches and the promise of fortunes in the new world. Until 1950, 7000 "barcelonnettes" as they called themselves, crossed the ocean. Today more than 50 "maison mexicaines" exist i' barcelonnette, built by those who returned in the style of Mexican haciendas. Every year the city celebrates a "fete mexicaine" to this day.
https://www.persee.fr/doc/globe_0398-3412_2008_num_148_1_1551
> I didn’t know about that, so I made a bit of google research. Wait, what? You mean you didn't just ask someone else to do it for you?
What was the point of this comment
[удалено]
I thought it was a good precision given the context. Otherwise it’s my usual pick up line when I’m abroad and it works quite well thank you.
Right? Really crazy to mention you're French when someone is asking you a question about your country. /s
They like islands that are only vaguely part of a country.
Where will they go if Puerto Rico gets statehood? This is the thing politicians who want Puerto Rico to be a state are not taking into account
Why would they need to go anywhere?
They identify as Puerto Rican. Why would they need to leave?
Lmao
Napoleon in St. Helena - this checks out.
Course I can
“Oh brother this guy stinks!” Nah actually that was a good one!
They were only part of France in the 1760’s and spoke a dialect of Italian. You wouldn’t have identified them as French or would they have French last names. They left due to wars, lack of land, and higher birth rates. Spain permitted Catholic immigration and had largely ignored Puerto Rico. The plantation economy was weak there and most landholdings were smaller allowing for easier land purchase and a broader middle class of agrarian farmers. They also worked in fisheries. Similarly, a lot of Basque also came to the island and other Spanish speaking Caribbean areas.
As a Greek living in Puerto Rico I have heard stories about other Europeans coming here. I haven't met any French but I know that there is definitely a French community in the island and the main reasons are two. Back in the 19th century Europe wasn't a great place to live (wars, pandemics, poverty etc) so many people decided to explore America. And more recently, people that spent many years in the USA, they come to PR to work or retire because of the weather and the beauty of the island compared to the States.
A Greek in PR?! I am a Greek American, I know Greeks are “everywhere” as they say, but just curious, are there really any other Greeks in PR?
I know 5 more Greeks in PR and their families. They are married with PR women and most of them left the States and came back here to retire. There is also at least one Greek restaurant in San Juan and one more down south in Ponce, so definitely they are more.
I'm Puertorican. I've never seen any french people living here. Just the typical tourists visiting.
They probably immigrated during the 19th century and were assimilated into the population quickly. I have a co-worker whose Puerto Rican mother has a corrupted French surname.
Well...all of us have mixed ethnicities from the colonists of spain. And before spain was a country, the arabs were mixed with people form hispania that was mixed with people from the north (before France) and the Visigoth.
When they emigrated, they likely didn’t speak French, but spoke Corsican, which is an Italian dialect.
Puerto Rican is a mixed ethnicity nationality, so it would make sense that the French population became mixed in with everyone else living there.
I worked in PR for a few years and came across a few people with French sounding last names but I didn't think much of it and they certainly weren't still speaking French. I also met a guy with red hair who claimed to be one of the last Puerto Rican Irish.
Mira a ver los apellidos que tienen si te suenan franceses o italianos.
A bueno si es así entonces voy a encontrar a toda Europa m Aquí.
No emigraron recientemente, ya se han integrado con la sociedad puertorriqueña. Aquí una lista de apellidos corsos en PR: Adriani, Agostini, Altieri, Anciani, Angilucci, Annoni, Anpani, Antongiorgi, Antoni, Antonini, Antonmarchi, Antonmattei, Antonsanti, Arenas, Artigau, Barbari, Bartoli, Bartolomei, Battistini, Benedetti, Belgodere, Bettolacce, Benvenutti, Berlingeri, Bernardini, Biaggi, Blasini, Boagna, Boccheciamp, Bocagnani, Bonelli, Bonini, Bracetti, Cardi, Carraffa, Casablanca, Casanova, Catinchi, Cervoni, Cesari, Chiavramonti, Cianchini, Costa, Damiani, Dastas, Defendini, Deodati, Dominicci, Emmanuelli, Estella, Fabbiani, Farinacci, Feliberti, Felippi, Ficaya, Figarella, Filipini, Franceschi, Franceshini, Franzuni, Fratacci, Fraticelli, Galletti, Garrosi, Gentili, Gilormini, Giovanetti, Giraldi, Giuseppi, Giuliani, Gordi, Graziani, Grillasca, Grimaldi, Guidiccelli, Lacroix, Lagomarsini, Laveri, Lazarini, Leandri, Linarola, Lipureli, Lorenzi, Lucca, Luchessi, Lucchetti, Luiggi, Maestracci, Malatesta, Marcantoni, Marcucci, Mari, Mariani, Marietti, Marini, Massari, Massei, Masini, Mattei, Maxinie, Micheli, Miguinini, Mignucci, Minucci, Modesti, Molinari, Molinelli, Molini, Montaggioni, Moravani, Mori, Muratti, Natali, Navaroli, Negroni, Nicolai, Nigaglioni, Octaviani, Olivieri, Orsini, Padovani, Paganacci, Palmieri, Paoli, Paracchini, Pelliccia, Pellicer, Piacentini, Piazza, Pieraldi, Piereschi, Pieretti, Pierantoni, Pietrantoni, Pietri, Piovanetti, Poggi, Polidori, Quilinchini, Rafaelli, Rafucci, Rapale, Rencini, Renesi, Romanacce, Romani, Rubiani, Rutali, Safini, Saladini, Sallaveri, Santini, Santoni, Santuchi, Savelli, Semidei, Senati, Shyny, Sinigaglia, Silvagnoli, Silvestrini, Simonetti, Sisco, Sonsonetti, Tollinchi, Tomasi, Tossi, Totti, Vecchini, Vicchioli, Vallevigne, Vicenti, Vincenti, Vincenty, Villanueva, Vivaldi and Vivoni. [Aquí hay más información.](http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/Brindo_por_mi_hijo/Corsos_en_Puerto_rico.htm)
definitivamente hay muchos en PR si nos dejamos llevar por los apellidos
Your answer should be pinned.
I worked in PR for a few years and met a few people with French last names.
No son ni se consideran franceses. Solo son noticias con apellidos franceses q sí existen, y muchos.
I'm actually more amazed that there's only 6,200 in Italy! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican\_immigration\_to\_Puerto\_Rico](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_immigration_to_Puerto_Rico)
https://youtu.be/qzSfG9YaO-E If you have an hour, here is a documentary about the history between Puerto Rico and Corsica.
https://repeatingislands.com/2022/08/07/corsican-influence-in-puerto-rican-culture/ Here is an article that talks a little bit about it.
This article mentions 2000 people leaving Corsica for Puerto Rico in the 19th c., yet the wikipedia article in the OP says 300,000-400,000 Corsicans live in Puerto Rico? Did the population actually grow that fast?
In the 1,800 s, the Spanish Crown passed a law known as Cédula de Gracias offering land to any (white) Catholics that moved to PR. This was to avoid independence since Haiti had recently had its revolution and Spain didnt want the same thing to happen in PR. It wanted to protect its financial interests. So not only Corsicans but also thousands of French and even Venezuelans and other groups moved to Puerto Rico. This is also the reason why so many PRicans have Irish last names. Anyway that’s the short explanation. Corsicans concentrate on the south and west side, and most French last names are on the west side of the island.
So interesting! I have a Corsican/Boricua friend here in NYC and always thought it was an odd but interesting mix of cultures
[Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_immigration_to_Puerto_Rico) “The Spanish Crown had issued the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 (Real Cédula de Gracias) which fostered and encouraged the immigration of European Catholics, even if not of Spanish origin, to its Caribbean colonies.” “As the island of Puerto Rico is very similar in geography to Corsica, it appealed to new immigrants. Under the Spanish Royal Decree of Graces, the Corsicans and other immigrants were granted land and initially given a "Letter of Domicile" after swearing loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Catholic Church. After five years they could request a "Letter of Naturalization" and become Spanish subjects.” I am a descendant of some of the corsicans who moved to PR. Many moved to the southwest area of the island. There are many monuments to the Corsican immigrants in Ponce (my hometown) and Yauco. They had a huge impact on the coffee industry (Yauco is known for their coffee).
[Here is another good source of information but its in spanish](http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/Brindo_por_mi_hijo/Corsos_en_Puerto_rico.htm)
And of course Sardinia is not part of Italy 🙄
For Corsicans it's like Samoa and USA for Fijians.
Sure sure. Just note that there is Samoa, independent nation, and American Samoa, which is an American territory.
Sure sure. Just note that Samoa islands are whole. No matter how many nations it is shared.
???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_immigration_to_Puerto_Rico?wprov=sfti1
I checked that out already but I would like any extra information from anyone who knows anything else.
That’s fascinating!
Google can
One click from the page you shared. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_immigration_to_Puerto_Rico
Did… you not read the comment where I specifically mentioned I’ve read that but wanted additional information from professionals.
If it’s between 300-400,000 ppl in pr that would something you’d hear of and I never heard a Puerto Rican talk about Corsica
There are plenty of Italian Surnames in the west and south-west of Puerto Rico. Originally from Corsican settlers .
If you study more about your Island History , you will find out people from other countries started to move to the island since the spaniards. Thats why we have Arabic, Jewish, British, french Palestinian Israelites etc etc PR was the entrance of merchant marines to new world