Born in a Corsican village marked by tragedy, Thomas Mariani had an eventful life, full of twists and turns and unexpected encounters. Orphaned by his father at a very young age, he had to leave his native land to escape a violent suitor who had murdered his grandmother, reports the newspaper Var Morning.
Arriving in Toulon, he learned the trade of shoemaker while developing a natural gift for music. His talent for the accordion, which he had learned by ear, quickly got him noticed. Enlisted in the army, he served in Indochina and Morocco, where he made shoes for Prince Moulay Hassan. It was during this meeting that he received the gift of the accordion that would accompany him throughout his life.
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But Thomas Mariani’s story takes a difficult turn during the Algerian war, where he leaves for a long mission, leaving his family without news. It was only at the end of this conflict that his family learned of his death in Marseille, in January 1964. A few years later, his remains were transferred to the Revest cemetery, where he has rested ever since.
For his descendants, the accordion is much more than an object. “We each collected a mother-of-pearl button from the accordion to make bracelets,” confides Pascal, moved by the transmission of this family memory.
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