In Olley, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, the town hall's consultation to give kindness to residents ends this Saturday, November 2. Nicknamed the “Burnt Asses”, the inhabitants of this village did not have an official family.
“Burned asses”, “Olleysiens”, “Olleygeois”? The residents of the town of Olley have been voting for two weeks to choose their kind. Those who live in this village of Meurthe-et-Moselle are nicknamed the “Culs brûlés”, but they do not have an official gentile, like in many other communes in France.
“This has been going on for at least a thousand years,” explained the mayor, David Buono, to France 3 at the end of September. “We have gone without a name for at least a millennium and we could continue like this, but getting all the residents to participate in this project is also the expression of citizen democracy. So, everyone can propose and then giving yourself a name is no small thing,” he added.
Opened on October 16, the consultation ends this Saturday, November 2 at noon. All residents can participate from the age of 10. The town hall has retained eight gentile proposals: “Olleysien/Olleysienne”, “Olleygeois/Olleygeoise”, “Ollesien/Ollesienne”, “Olleyjoie”, “Olleyon/Olleyonne”, “Ollois/Olloise”, “Olleumien/Olleumienne”.. . and “Burned Ass.”
An originally enigmatic nickname
This nickname dates back several centuries, without us really knowing its origin. It could come from “the abuses committed by the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War” (1618-1648) or from the fact that the inhabitants, at one point in their history, “perhaps sold an oil which was not highly esteemed” in the sector, Kévin Goeuriot, historian of Lorraine, explained to AFP in October.
“Les Culs brûlés suits me well,” says a resident to BFMTV.
This consultation, “it was above all also a way of remobilizing the people of the village around a common project which is rather light and which can involve everyone”, estimated Marie-Claire Donnen, first deputy, to AFP. to the mayor.
Even if it is a light project, the town hall declared that it had ruled out certain humorous proposals: “Olleymains, Olleycoeur, Olley-olé, Caféolley, Riolley, Olleyfilles…”
Coralie Haenel, Anthony Ferry and Sophie Cazaux
