Draw me a tank!

March 24, 2011 5:32 PM

For many years, the inhabitants of the Corsican village of Vezzani have been entertaining visitors with a curious legend: the actual father of a certain embattled dictator is rumoured to be a local boy. Like Saint-Exupery, Albert Preziosi once fell from the sky. According to local lore, he wandered in the desert until he met, not a Little Prince, but a princess. Like father, like son? No one has tried yet to get a DNA sample from the Colonel, but who knows what the future holds?
posted by elgilito (9 comments total)

Fascinating conjecture. Also the Normandie-Niemen Squadron which Albert Preziosi served with (French pilots on the Eastern Front, who knew).
posted by stbalbach at 6:11 PM on March 24, 2011

Are these Corsicans high? They look nothing alike.
posted by nikitabot at 6:26 PM on March 24, 2011

there is NO WAY Kadhafi was fathered by someone that good looking!
posted by supermedusa at 6:48 PM on March 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Not even a likely story. Young ladies among the tribes are pretty closely guarded, especially those from high ranking families. I think this article has to be some kind of elaborate put on.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 9:01 PM on March 24, 2011

Is it relevant that it says "satire" right there in the heading?
posted by amethysts at 1:05 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Inconceivable!

Oh, wait, that says "Vezzani." Never mind.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:13 AM on March 25, 2011

Is it relevant that it says "satire" right there in the heading?

France has a history of "satire" being more truthful than what the big-name newspapers are willing to print. See also: Le Canard enchaîné. This site looks to be similar; their "About us" section says that they're "un journal qui n’écrit que s’il peut apporter un plus aux infos du jour et qui se nourrit d’enquêtes exclusives, fouillées. Sur tous les sujets." Translation: "a paper written only when we can bring more to daily news, supported by [literally, 'nourished by'] exclusive, in-depth investigations. On all subjects."

The sub-heading is "satire juste", which is a terrific play on words. Literally it means "honest satire", which is already a play. But its pronunciation is also identical to the colloquialism "ça tire juste", roughly equivalent to our English expression "straight shooter".

As for the Corsican story, eh, who knows. I live a ferry-boat ride away from Corsica, and there are a lot of Corsicans in this part of France. Over the years I've come to know a few of them who relate to my being a foreigner (Corsica has a strong independent streak, and they're known for not being able to stomach continental French, while adoring Americans, for whatever reason), and I've often been regaled with Corsican tall tales (which they outright call tall tales). Then reality sometimes turns out to be even stranger. That island is like a modern-day soap opera.

I love Corsica, btw. Gorgeous island, wonderful people. My handle here is Corsican for "strawberry".
posted by fraula at 6:04 AM on March 25, 2011

Are these Corsicans high? They look nothing alike.

That was my first impression too, but their noses are odd and a dead match, and they have similar eyebrows, with a dark half and a light half.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 7:13 AM on March 25, 2011

Not even a likely story. Young ladies among the tribes are pretty closely guarded, especially those from high ranking families. I think this article has to be some kind of elaborate put on.

I don't know, man. Look what happened a few miles east at about that time.
posted by IndigoJones at 6:36 PM on March 25, 2011