Classic Jorge
02-28-2014, 04:34 PM
Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny donates ¤600k to save accordion factory
French footballer demonstrates pride in his Gallic roots with investment in Tulle factory threatened with closure
French footballer Laurent Koscielny has not forgotten his roots.
Even the bustle of London, where he has lived since signing for Arsenal in 2010, has failed to drown out the gentle strains of the accordion he would hear as a boy growing up in the French countryside.
Now the international defender has dug deep into his pockets to help save the country's oldest accordion factory in Tulle in the Correze, his home town and president François Hollande's constituency.
Maugein, founded in 1919, was threatened with closure and the loss of 20 jobs. French media reported that Koscielny is part of an investment group that had put up ¤600,000 (£495,000) to save the factory from closure.
The local mayor, Bernard Combes, an adviser to Hollande, had contacted the player to raise the plight of the factory.
Hollande made his first speech in Tulle after being elected president in 2012. He and his then partner Valérier Trierweiler were serenaded by an accordionist playing La Vie en Rose.
The Maugein factory makes the accordions from scratch and had a turnover of ¤800,000 in 2012. However, hit by competition from cheaper instruments made in Eastern Europe and China, it went into receivership last December. In 1939, it employed 300 workers.
Combes told Le Monde in December that the Maugein accordion was a symbol of the region's industrial heritage.
Koscielny, 28, whose family is of Polish origin earns £2.6m a year with Arsenal.
French footballer demonstrates pride in his Gallic roots with investment in Tulle factory threatened with closure
French footballer Laurent Koscielny has not forgotten his roots.
Even the bustle of London, where he has lived since signing for Arsenal in 2010, has failed to drown out the gentle strains of the accordion he would hear as a boy growing up in the French countryside.
Now the international defender has dug deep into his pockets to help save the country's oldest accordion factory in Tulle in the Correze, his home town and president François Hollande's constituency.
Maugein, founded in 1919, was threatened with closure and the loss of 20 jobs. French media reported that Koscielny is part of an investment group that had put up ¤600,000 (£495,000) to save the factory from closure.
The local mayor, Bernard Combes, an adviser to Hollande, had contacted the player to raise the plight of the factory.
Hollande made his first speech in Tulle after being elected president in 2012. He and his then partner Valérier Trierweiler were serenaded by an accordionist playing La Vie en Rose.
The Maugein factory makes the accordions from scratch and had a turnover of ¤800,000 in 2012. However, hit by competition from cheaper instruments made in Eastern Europe and China, it went into receivership last December. In 1939, it employed 300 workers.
Combes told Le Monde in December that the Maugein accordion was a symbol of the region's industrial heritage.
Koscielny, 28, whose family is of Polish origin earns £2.6m a year with Arsenal.