In Cargèse, a Corsican village where Yvan Colonna is from, his memory is still vivid on the walls and in the hearts of the inhabitants.
While discussions on the autonomy of Corsica have resumed since the death of the independence activist attacked in his prison in Arles, the question of his memory and his political heritage arises.
In this village which has seen the violent death of three of its children in three years, relatives, friends and residents tell of the many scars of this one.
From our special correspondent in Cargèse, Corsica
"Cargèse is a bruised village with a lot of scars, pain, sadness", introduces Philippe.
Gazing into the sea facing his beach hut, this childhood friend of Yvan Colonna, a Corsican independence activist who died on March 21 after his violent attack in Arles prison, stirs up his memories.
A handful of customers, mostly retired tourists taking advantage of the tranquility of the off-season, finish their lunch and perfect their tans without imagining what the inhabitants of this small village of barely a thousand inhabitants are going through. inhabitants.
Dozens of first names and faces are scattered on its walls, however, using spray paint: that of Yvan Colonna, of course, often accompanied by the words "Gloria à té" (Glory to you).
That of Maxime Susini, regularly described as a nationalist, environmentalist and anti-mafia activist, shot dead at the age of 36 on September 12, 2019 in the morning as he opened his beach hut - the 1768, date of the Corsican constitution written by Pascal Paoli - close to that of Philippe.
More discreet, and often pushed back to the low walls which border the road leading to the village, the memory of Jean-Antoine Carboni, nicknamed "Tony", has been written in black letters since his assassination on the night of August 14, 2020. And if the enmity and suspicion may have reigned between the two families of the last cities, "despite all that one can hear,
they brought good to Cargèse.
The village has lost three men of great value,” said Philippe.
Rare, indeed, are the villages, in France as in Corsica, which saw the violent and non-accidental death of three of its children in four years.
Added to this pain is that of everyday accidents - recently, a young man was killed in a car.
“That's a lot for a small village like Cargèse.
In this sense, the village is traumatized.
Cargèse is special, ”summarizes a resident, a part brought from the continent a decade ago to life here.
Added to this pain is that of everyday accidents - recently, a young man was killed in a car.
“That's a lot for a small village like Cargèse.
In this sense, the village is traumatized.
Cargèse is special, ”summarizes a resident, a part brought from the continent a decade ago to life here.
Added to this pain is that of everyday accidents - recently, a young man was killed in a car.
“That's a lot for a small village like Cargèse.
In this sense, the village is traumatized.
Cargèse is special, ”summarizes a resident, a part brought from the continent a decade ago to life here.
A village where not discussing each other's legal responsibilities is a prerequisite for any conversation.
Here, there are only innocent people.
Starting with the first of them, Yvan Colonna, condemned for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac, which the independence activist has always denied.
A little over six months after his funeral, which brought together 3,000 people in the village, the memory and legacy of Yvan Colonna are not only cultivated on the walls of the island where from Bastia to Cargèse, the inscriptions, "French out”, appearing small bombs, or celebrating their hero, marking a revival of the independence cause have multiplied in recent months.
Yvan Colonna leaves no writings but a library
On the gates and the cypresses of the family chapel where now rests "the shepherd of Cargèse", float alongside the Corsican flags, those of the Kanaks, the Basques and the Bretons.
Everything happens as if his premature death had precipitated the birth of a symbol.
“Yvan will remain as a Corsican hero”, assures Félix Bornardi, radio host in Ajaccio who knew the activist well until his imprisonment in 2003 and continued to exchange regularly with him during his detention.
“But like all symbols, it will become what people make of it.
»
“And the problem is that a lot of people are going to make him talk and it is today that he is dead that we realize that he may have had things to say.
But who knows his ideas?
His ideas on the land, the sea, the youth, the economy?
His vision of independence?
asks Felix.
“Of all those who carried his coffin, who had known him?
“, he continues.
And to make matters worse, Yvan Colonna leaves no writings behind him, but a rich library built up during his detention.
“We talk about Yvan as a nationalist.
The problem with this word is that it can today assume the same political orientation as on the continent.
Yvan, that was not it.
It was the sharing of the land, humanism, openness.
This is why I prefer the word independence.
There was the question of political power,
not power.
For me, he was an anarchist, ”says Félix Bornardi who explains that he worked with Yvan, during the internal clashes in the FLNC, to outline what he calls “a left nationalism”.
This question of the political heritage of Yvan Colonna as of his memory is still unresolved for the time being.
If his death, and the riots that followed in Corsica, allowed a resumption of discussions with the State to extend the autonomy of the island, the umpteenth rejection on September 29 of a request for parole from Pierre Alessandri , one of the three condemned in the assassination of the prefect Erignac, threw a chill on them.
Gérald Darmanin, who was expected on the island on October 6 and 7, postponed his arrival considering that “the conditions for a calm debate […] were not met”.
"There are peacemakers, and warmakers", regretted in a press release Gilles Siméoni, the president of the Corsican executive council.
In Marignana, Yvan Colonna came out on top in the presidential election
In the village, the family of Yvan Colonna believes that it is still too early to express themselves on these subjects.
Sadness and anger prevail.
Above all, they are waiting for light to be shed on the conditions of his death and indicate that they do not consider working on memory, wishing to let people take hold of it, they explain.
"We still have too much hatred", sums up a cafe owner for whom Yvan's memory "is on the walls, but also in people's homes".
On the counter of the bar of Philippe's straw hut sits prominently a photo beaten by time and yellowed by the sun.
This takes us back to 1986. We see, next to Philippe, a twenty-something Yvan Colonna, happy and slumped on a sofa.
At that time, he was a lifeguard on the beach of Peru with his friend Philippe and an accomplished footballer.
On the pitch, André Di Scala was playing just ahead of Yvan.
The former number 6 of AS Cargèse now lives in Marignana, a neighboring village located in the lands which during the last presidential election placed Yvan Colonna at the top of the ballot.
“We consulted a little,” he smiles.
He remembers Yvan "the shepherd of Cargèse" who passed through Marignana at each transhumance.
“The shepherds are the soul of Corsica.
The day when there will be no more, without being backward-looking, Corsica will die out,”
he considers.
From there to making Yvan Colonna a symbol of this Corsican soul, there is only one step.
Our file on Yvan Colonna
Because despite himself, Yvan Colonna hastily “entered history” by joining the long list of its losers.
“Of those who fought for the emancipation and self-determination of peoples and died from it,” concludes Félix.
Yvan Colonna had named his eldest son Jean-Baptiste, in tribute to Jean-Baptiste Acquaviva, an FLNC activist who died in an operation in 1987. How many little Yvans will be born in Corsica in the years to come?
No doubt we will find here an index of the popularity of his memory among the youngest.
Policy
Gérald Darmanin postpones his visit to Corsica, the conditions for a "serene debate" are "not met"
Justice
Prefect Erignac: No parole for Alessandri, "indignation" of Corsican elected officials
Company
Yvan colonna
flnc
Corsica
Memory
claude erignac