On April 7, 2025, La Poste issued a stamp bearing the image of Pasquale Paoli to mark the tercentenary of his birth.
The stamp is a reproduction of the portrait painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, for whom Pasquale Paoli posed during his lifetime. This painter was the most important portraitist of the English Regency and the reign of George IV.
The outline of the sheet features the Moor's head, adopted in 1755 by Pascal Paoli as the emblem of Corsica.
A man of the Enlightenment, Pasquale Paoli left his mark on the history of Corsica, France, and 18th-century Europe. The son of General Ghjacintu Paoli, Pasquale was introduced to politics at a very early age. At 14, he followed his father into exile in Naples, where he acquired a solid intellectual education under the influence of Illuminism. In 1755, he returned to the island and was appointed Capo Generale della Nazione during the Consulta of Casabianca. He built a modern Corsican state, based on the 1755 constitution.
His influence and reformist spirit attracted the attention of the intellectuals of the time, and the island became a political laboratory of the Enlightenment. But his struggle for independence was thwarted by external powers. In 1769, after the Battle of Ponte Novu, Paoli went into exile in England.
Recognized as a hero by the French Revolution, he returned to Corsica in 1790 and was elected President of the General Council. As relations with the new French government deteriorated, Paoli was impeached by the Convention. In 1794, the creation of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom was formalized. Corsica had its own institutions and recognized the King of England as its king. Removed from power, Paoli was once again forced into exile in England, where he spent his final years, respected and honored as a hero of liberty. In 1796, the English left Corsica for good, giving way to France.
Pasquale Paoli is remembered as U Babbu di a Patria, a visionary statesman whose ideas of liberty and independence continue to inspire generations.
