Corsican Constitution

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The first Corsican Constitution was drawn for the short-lived Corsican Republic, established in 1755 and in force until the annexation of Corsica by France in 1769. It was written in Italian language, the language of culture in Corsica until the end of the nineteenth century.

Drafted by, amongst others, Pasquale Paoli, and inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Corsican Constitution is the first codified national constitution of an independent republic in the modern age. Although it is relatively unknown compared to United States Constitution of 1787 and Polish Constitution of 3rd May of 1791 it precedes all of them and was the forerunner of modern democracy founded on Enlightenment principles, but Sweden seems to have been the real forerunner from 1720 with its Age of Liberty (Swedish XVIIIth century parliamentary era).

The second Corsican Constitution was drawn in 1794 for the short-lived (1794-1796) Anglo-Corsican Kingdom, it introduced universal suffrage for property owners.