Edith Piaf: the life story of a French singer. Edith Piaf: biography, best songs, interesting facts, listen The story of Edith Piaf

Edith Piaf

Edith Piaf (fr. Édith Piaf), real name Edith Giovanna Gassion (fr. Édith Giovanna Gassion). Born December 19, 1915 in Paris - died October 10, 1963 in Grasse (France). French singer and actress.

Edith Giovanna Gassion, known worldwide as Edith Piaf, was born on December 19, 1915 in Paris.

She was born in the family of the failed actress Anita Maillard, who performed on stage under the pseudonym Lin Mars, and the acrobat Louis Gassion.

At the beginning of World War I, he volunteered for the front. Specially received a two-day leave at the end of 1915 to see his newborn daughter Edith.

There is a legend that the future singer got her name in honor of the British nurse Edith Cavell, who was shot by the Germans on October 12, 1915.

Two years later, Louis Gassion found out that his wife had left him, and her daughter had been given to her parents to raise.

The conditions in which little Edith lived were appalling. Grandmother had no time to take care of the child, and she often poured diluted wine into her granddaughter's bottle instead of milk so that she would not bother her. Then Louis took his daughter to Normandy to his mother, who kept a brothel.

It turned out that three-year-old Edith is completely blind. In addition, it turned out that in the very first months of her life, Edith began to develop keratitis, but her maternal grandmother, apparently, simply did not notice this.

When there was no other hope left, grandmother Gassion and her girls took Edith to Lisieux to Saint Teresa, where thousands of pilgrims from all over France gather every year. The trip was scheduled for August 19, 1921, and on August 25, 1921, Edith received her sight. She was six years old. The first thing she saw was the piano keys. But her eyes were never filled with sunlight. The great French poet Jean Cocteau, in love with Edith, called them "the eyes of a blind man who has seen clearly."

At the age of seven, Edith went to school, surrounded by the cares of a loving grandmother, but respectable inhabitants did not want to see a child living in a brothel next to their children, and the girl's studies ended very quickly.

Father took Edith to Paris, where they began to work together on the squares: the father showed acrobatic tricks, and his nine-year-old daughter sang. Edith made money by singing on the street until she was hired by the Juan-les-Pins cabaret.

When Edith was fifteen years old, she met her younger half-sister Simone. Simone's mother insisted that the eleven-year-old daughter start bringing money into the house, relations in the family, where seven more children grew up in addition to Simone, were difficult, and Edith took her younger sister to her to sing on the street. Prior to that, she had already lived on her own.

In 1932, Edith began to live with the owner of the store, Louis Dupont, from whom she gave birth to a daughter, but she died of meningitis. Edith herself was seriously ill.

In 1935, when Edith was twenty years old, she was noticed on the street by Louis Leplée, the owner of the cabaret "Zhernis" (le Gerny's) on the Champs Elysees, and invited to perform in his program. He taught her how to rehearse with an accompanist, how to choose and direct songs, and explained how important the artist's costume, his gestures, facial expressions, and behavior on stage are.

It was Leple who found a name for Edith - Piaf, what in Parisian slang means "sparrow". Wearing torn shoes, she sang in the street: "Born like a sparrow, lived like a sparrow, died like a sparrow."

In "Zhernis" on the posters her name was printed as "Baby Piaf", and the success of the first performances was huge.

On February 17, 1936, Edith Piaf performed in a big concert at the Medrano circus, along with such French pop stars as Maurice Chevalier, Mistengett, Marie Dubas. A short performance on Radio City allowed her to take the first step to real fame - listeners called on the radio, live, and demanded that Little Piaf performed more.

However, a successful takeoff was interrupted by tragedy: soon Louis Leple was shot in the head, and Edith Piaf was among the suspects because he left her a small amount in his will. The newspapers inflated this story, and visitors to the cabaret, in which Edith Piaf performed, behaved with hostility, believing that they had the right to "punish the criminal."

Then she met the poet Raymond Asso, who finally determined the future life of the singer. It is to him in many respects that the merit of the birth of the "Great Edith Piaf" belongs. He taught Edith not only what was directly related to her profession, but also everything that she needed in life: the rules of etiquette, the ability to choose clothes, and much more.

Raymond Asso created the "Piaf style", based on the personality of Edith, he wrote songs suitable only for her, "tailor-made": "Paris - the Mediterranean", "She lived on the Rue Pigalle", "My Legionnaire", "Pennant for the Legion ".

The music for the song “My Legionnaire” was written by Marguerite Monnot, who also later became not only “her own” composer, but also a close friend of the singer. Later, Piaf created several more songs with Monnot, and among them - "Little Marie", "The Devil is next to me" and "Hymn of Love". It was Raymond Asso who ensured that Edith performed at the ABC Music Hall on the Grands Boulevards, the most famous music hall in Paris.

A performance at the ABC was considered an exit to the “big water”, an initiation into the profession. He also convinced her to change her stage name "Baby Piaf" to "Edith Piaf". After the success of the performance in ABC, the press wrote about Edith: “Yesterday, a great singer was born on the ABC stage in France.” An extraordinary voice, true dramatic talent, diligence and stubbornness of a street girl in achieving her goal quickly led Edith to the heights of success.

With the outbreak of World War II, the singer broke up with Raymond Asso. At this time, she met with the famous French director Jean Cocteau, who invited Edith to play in a small play of her own composition, Indifferent Handsome. The rehearsals went well and the play was a great success. It was first shown in the 1940 season. Film director Georges Lacombe decided to make a film based on the play. And in 1941, the film "Montmartre on the Seine" was filmed, in which Edith received the main role.

During World War II, Edith's parents died. The countrymen also appreciated the personal courage of Piaf, who performed during the war in Germany in front of French prisoners of war, so that after the concert, along with autographs, to give them everything they needed to escape, and her mercy - she arranged concerts in favor of the families of the victims. During the occupation, Edith Piaf performed in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, took pictures with German officers and French prisoners of war "as a keepsake", and then in Paris, these photographs were used to make fake documents for soldiers who had fled from the camp.

Edith Piaf - Padam Padam

Edith helped to find themselves and start their way to success to many novice performers - Yves Montand, the Companion de la Chanson ensemble, Eddie Constantin, Charles Aznavour and other talents.

The post-war period was a period of unprecedented success for her. Residents of the Parisian suburbs and sophisticated connoisseurs of art, workers and the future Queen of England listened to her with admiration.

In January 1950, on the eve of a solo concert in the Pleyel hall, the press wrote about “songs of the streets in the temple of classical music” - this was another triumph for the singer.

Despite the love of the listeners, a life devoted entirely to the song made her lonely. Edith herself understood this well: “The audience pulls you into their arms, opens their heart and swallows you whole. You are filled with her love, and she is filled with yours. Then, in the fading light of the hall, you hear the sound of departing steps. They are still yours. You no longer shudder with delight, but you feel good. And then the streets, the darkness, the heart becomes cold, you are alone..

In 1952, Edith had two car accidents in a row - both with Charles Aznavour. To alleviate the suffering caused by fractures of her arm and ribs, doctors gave her morphine injections, and Edith again fell into drug addiction, from which she was cured only after 4 years.

In 1954, Edith Piaf starred in the historical film Secrets of Versailles with Jean Marais.

In 1955, Edith began performing at the Olympia Concert Hall. The success was stunning. After that, she went on an 11-month tour of America, after - the next performances at Olympia, a tour of France.

Edith Piaf wrote two autobiographies "At the Ball of Luck" and "My life", and her friend of her youth, who called herself Edith's half-sister, Simone Berto, also wrote a book about her life.

Illness and death of Edith Piaf

Great physical, and most importantly, emotional stress severely undermined her health. The functions of the liver were seriously impaired - sclerosis was combined with cirrhosis, and the whole organism was too weakened.

During 1960-1963. she repeatedly ended up in hospitals, sometimes for several months.

On September 25, 1962, Edith sang from the height of the Eiffel Tower on the occasion of the premiere of the film "The Longest Day" of the song "No, I do not regret anything", "Crowd", "My Lord", "You do not hear", "The right to love". All of Paris listened to her.

Her last performance on stage took place on March 31, 1963 at the Opera House in Lille.

On October 10, 1963, Edith Piaf died. The body of the singer was transferred from the city of Grasse, where she died, to Paris in secrecy, and her death was officially announced in Paris only on October 11, 1963. On the same day, October 11, 1963, Piaf's friend Jean Cocteau passed away. There is an opinion that he died upon learning of the death of Piaf.

The singer's funeral took place at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. More than forty thousand people gathered on them, many did not hide their tears, there were so many flowers that people were forced to walk right along them.

Edith Piaf - Non, je ne regrette rien

The minor planet (3772) Piaf, discovered on October 21, 1982 by an employee of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Lyudmila Karachkina, is named after the singer.

In Paris, in 2003, a monument to Edith Piaf was opened, which is installed on Piaf Square (Place Edith Piaf).

Height of Edith Piaf: 147 centimeters.

Personal life of Edith Piaf:

In 1932, Edith met the shop owner Louis Dupont(Louis Dupont). A year later, 17-year-old Edith had a daughter, Marcel (Marcelle). However, Louis did not like that Edith devoted too much time to her work, and he demanded to leave her. Edith refused and they parted ways.

At first, the daughter stayed with her mother, but one day, when she came home, Edith did not find her. Louis Dupont took his daughter to him, hoping that the woman he loved would return to him.

Daughter Edith fell ill with meningitis and was hospitalized. After visiting her daughter, Edith herself fell ill. At that time, this disease was cured poorly, there were no suitable medicines, and doctors often could simply observe the disease in the hope of a favorable outcome. As a result, Edith recovered, and Marcel died (1935). She was the only child born to Piaf.

After the war, she was in a relationship with the famous boxer, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, world middleweight champion, 33-year-old Marcel Cerdan. In October 1949, Cerdan flew to New York to meet Piaf, who again performed there on tour. The plane crashed over the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores and Serdan died, which was a shock to Piaf. In deep depression, she was rescued by morphine.

In 1952, Piaf fell in love again and married a poet and singer. Jacques Pils but the marriage soon broke up.

In 1962, Edith Piaf fell in love again - with a 27-year-old Greek (she was 47 years old), the hairdresser Theo, whom she, like Yves Montana, brought to the stage. Edith gave him a pseudonym Sagapo(Greek for "I love you"). She was with him until her death.

Sagapo outlived her by seven years, he died in a car accident.

Filmography of Edith Piaf:

1941 - Montmartre on the Seine (Montmartre-sur-Seine)
1945 - Star without light (Etoile sans lumière)
1947 - Nine guys, one heart (Neuf garçons, un coeur)
1950 - Paris always sings (Paris chante toujours)
1954 - If they tell me about Versailles (Si Versailles m "était conté)
1954 - French cancan (French cancan) - Eugenie Buffet
1959 - Lovers of Tomorrow (Les amants de demain)
2007 - Life in pink (La môme)

Edith Piaf (Édith Piaf), real name Edith Giovanna Gassion (Édith Giovanna Gassion), was born December 19, 1915 in Paris (France). Her mother was the singer Anita Maillard, who went by the stage name Lina Marsa. Father, Louis Gassion, was a street acrobat, a participant in the First World War.

Shortly after the birth, the baby was given to be raised by her maternal grandmother, who mistreated the child.

The father, who arrived on vacation, sent his daughter to his own mother in Normandy, in Bernay. It soon became clear that the girl was blind.

When there was no hope for recovery, her grandmother took Edith to Lisieux to Saint Teresa, where thousands of pilgrims from all over France gather every year, and the girl began to see clearly.

Until the age of eight, Edith went to school, but then her father took her to Paris, where they began to work together on the squares - her father showed acrobatic tricks, and her daughter sang.

She later began performing alone as a street singer. At 17, Edith gave birth to a daughter, Marcel, who died of meningitis two years later.

A turning point in the fate of Edith, when the impresario Louis Leple, the owner of the fashionable cabaret "Gernis", located next to the Champs Elysees, heard her singing, invited him to perform in his institution with the song "Homeless Girls".

The small growth of the singer (less than one and a half meters) and her appearance prompted the owner of the cabaret to come up with her stage name Baby Piaf, which means "sparrow" in Parisian jargon.

The success of the first performances was huge. Especially for Edith, Jacques Bourgea wrote the first songs - "Words Without History" and "Junk Man".

In February 1936, Edith Piaf performed in a big concert at the Medrano circus, along with leading French pop stars. A short performance on Radio City allowed her to take the first step to fame.

After the assassination of Louis Leple in April 1936, Edith came under police suspicion. The newspapers printed her picture as a suspect. As a result, the Parisian public was so hostile that Piaf was forced to leave the city and perform in its suburbs, Nice and Belgium.

When the scandal subsided, the singer was able to return to Paris. In 1937, she became close to the poet and composer Raymond Asso, who helped her create a "Piaf style" based on the singer's personality. They wrote the songs "Paris - the Mediterranean", "She lived on Pigalle Street", "My Legionnaire", "Pennant for the Legion". The story of Edith Piaf has become the story of her songs. Asso got the singer to perform at the ABC music hall on the Grands Boulevards, the most famous music hall in Paris.

Since that time, the singer has performed under the name Edith Piaf. In 1939, Edith broke up with Asso.

During this period, she met the famous French poet, playwright and director Jean Cocteau, who invited her to play in a short play of his composition "Indifferent Handsome", first shown in the 1940 season. Edith's game impressed the director Georges Lacombe, who made the film "Montmartre on the Seine" (Montmartre-sur-Seine, 1941) based on the play, starring Edith Piaf.

During the occupation of France (1940-1944), the singer performed a lot in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, took pictures with German officers and French prisoners of war "as a keepsake", and then in Paris, these photographs were used to make fake documents for soldiers who fled from the camp. Edith then went to the same camp and secretly handed out false identities to prisoners of war.

In 1947, Edith went on tour in Greece, and then to the United States, where she met the greatest love of her life - boxer Marcel Cerdan, who was married and had three sons. In 1949, Serdan died in a plane crash. His tragic death caused the singer a severe depression.

In 1952, the singer got into two car accidents in a row. To ease the suffering caused by fractures, doctors injected her with morphine, and Edith became addicted to drugs.

In July 1952, she married the poet and singer Jacques Pils, but four years later the marriage broke up.

In 1958, Edith successfully performed at the Olympia Concert Hall. In the same year, her 11-month tour of America began, and then regular performances at Olympia and a tour of France took place.

In 1961, the singer learned that she was terminally ill with liver cancer.

September 25, 1962 Edith Piaf sang from the height of the Eiffel Tower on the occasion of the premiere of the film "The Longest Day" of the song "No, I do not regret anything", "The crowd", "My lord", "You do not hear", "The right to love" .

In October 1962, she married Theo Lambukas, a Greek hairdresser. Edith gave him the pseudonym Sarapo (Greek for "I love you").

In April 1963, Piaf recorded her last song.

In the cinema, Edith Piaf starred in the films Star Without Light (1946) and Lovers of Tomorrow (Les Amants de demain, 1959), she also starred in the dramas Secrets of Versailles (Affairs in Versailles) and "French Cancan" (French Cancan), released on screens in 1954, etc.

Her genius seems to have been lifted up from the underworld. From the first moment of her birth, she, like a crippled animal, fought for the elementary right to survive. Her glory, eclipsing other stars, is a reward for a martyred childhood. Her martyrdom is a retribution for a bright and boundless talent.

It was the First World War, when on the wet sidewalk of the poor outskirts of Paris, an alcoholic woman gave birth to a girl. Her mother brought her home and subsequently, leaving her family, gave her daughter to be raised by her parents, also alcoholics. So that the child would not interfere with hungry crying, the permanently drunk grandmother mixed wine into milk.

In 1917, for 2-year-old Edith, her father Louis Gassion returned from the front. The girl, swollen from dystrophy and blind from conjunctivitis, aroused pity in his hardened heart. Gassion sent his daughter to be raised by his mother, who maintained a brothel. For three years, Edith was surrounded by the sincere love and care of prostitutes. Three years of happy childhood… Whether through the prayers of the maidens or thanks to qualified treatment, the girl received her sight on the day of St. Teresa. The image of Saint Teresa Edith Piaf will carry with her all her life ...

Fluttering "sparrow". When Edith was six years old, Louis Gassion took her with him. He was a wandering acrobat, and the baby's duties included collecting cash rewards. The father drank away the pennies earned from street performances. It was at that time that Edith's first vocal debut took place. Once a girl sang the Marseillaise. The crowd was moved, and a hail of coins fell into the cap.

The experience of artistic vagrancy, as well as the time spent in the brothel, were not in vain for Edith. She learned at least two ways to make money, and at the age of 15, she ran away from her father and began an independent life. Edith sang in the nastiest taverns in Paris, but her main stage was still the pavement. Ugly, in greasy clothes, she did makeup and hair a la Marlene Dietrich and seemed to herself an irresistible movie star. The sailors and port workers, after drinking a certain amount of cheap wine together, really liked the cheerful singer ... As a result of one of these “romances”, Edith had a girl who soon died ...

Oddly enough, but Edith was very self-confident and cheerful. She was determined to conquer the world. On a gloomy October afternoon in 1935, the owner of a large cabaret, Louis Leple, saw her. He was simply mesmerized by her voice. He gave her a permanent job in his institution and came up with a pseudonym - Piaf ("little sparrow").

Birth of Galatea. Louis Leple was killed. The yellow press mercilessly finished off Edith with versions of her involvement in this mysterious murder. Everyone around was sure that a panel and infamy awaited the vulgar singer. But Edith did not know how to indulge in despair for a long time, all the more she did not know how to be inactive, and because of her cheerful disposition, she was never left alone. The next patron was found pretty soon. WITH
Piaf met the famous songwriter Raymond Asso when she was Leple. Asso was known as a man from high society. An intellectual and pedant, he became a truly close friend and lover for Piaf. Raymond took up the education of Edith. At 21, she could barely read or write.

But the most "bloody" was the struggle with her bad manners and coarse taste. "Don't chew. Don't talk with your mouth full. Hold your fork properly," Raymond's thunderous voice was heard every now and then, as if he were dealing with a gang of recalcitrant preschool children. It happened that a desperate teacher used strong words and cuffs.

Asso spent a long time rehearsing with Edith every intonation. In the loving and demanding hands of Asso, Piaf's talent was best cut. She worked for days, obsessed with music, demanding that the pianist and the author, stiff with fatigue, repeat everything from the beginning. Asso organized her performance in the most famous music hall in Paris - ABC. That was the first stunning success. The next day, all the newspapers wrote that a great singer was born in France. “I will die on the day when I can no longer sing,” Piaf repeated. She survived accidents, rising from numerous wounds and fractures. Struggled with disease, enduring countless surgeries and blood transfusions. Sometimes, from the abundance of medications she took, she had memory lapses; right on the stage, Piaf lost consciousness more than once. But what is physical suffering compared to the pleasure of singing!

Piaf never put on a show from her performances, she simply went to the piano in a closed black dress and sang, but this was enough to put Hollywood, ironic in relation to European stars, to her sore legs ...

Saved and Lost. Only in the work of Piaf was constant. Men did not stay long on her life path. She fell in love sincerely. Passion was the “pepper” that she lacked to feel the sharpness of life. Love fed and filled her voice
sensual outburst. But as soon as the relationship with a man ceased to be like a storm and lost romance, Piaf left first, without regret and without looking back. Only two of her lovers managed to escape this fate: the famous boxer Marcel Cerdan and the last husband of the singer Theo Serapo. Cerdan was "lucky" - he died before Piaf fell out of love with him. The death of Edith herself prevented the abandonment of young Theo.

Edith Piaf had a gift for finding talent. So she discovered the "dull guy" Charles Aznavour and helped him make a career. Then Piaf fell in love with Yves Montand, who had just arrived in Paris.
She herself wrote songs for him. She came up with an image for him, taught him how to dress and move around the stage, made patronage in the cinema. But the passion for Montana faded, and Piaf put him out the door without much explanation.

Edith was friends with the idol of her youth Marlene Dietrich. Dietrich was a witness at the wedding of Piaf and her stage partner Jacques Pills. But an attempt to find family happiness after a tragic affair with Serdan failed. The marriage to Pills broke up after five years.

Marcel Cerdan could not become Piaf's husband, as he was married and had three sons. They met during Edith's tour of America. Serdan spent there the final fights for the world title. Piaf came to all his matches, and he, to the detriment of his sports career, did not miss a single one of her concerts. Unlike of a subsequent succession of young lovers, Piaf Marcel Cerdan was her peer. At the first call of Edith, he abandoned both his family and training. So it was the day Marseille took a ticket for that God-damned flight. At the crash site, Cerdan's body was identified by a watch given to him by Edith Piaf. The singer began a severe depression, exacerbating healed arthritis. To get rid of the pain that twisted her joints, Piaf took drugs. Overcoming drug addiction, switched to alcohol ...

The name Piaf had magical power in the highest circles of society. Knowing this, the singer always found strength, time and a way to help those in need. So during the Second World War, the occupying troops gave Piaf a pass to the prisoner of war camp. Having performed with a concert, Edith expressed her desire to be photographed with the prisoners. The fascist authorities could not refuse the great singer. In Paris, Piaf enlarged the faces of each of the 120 captives and pasted the photographs onto fake IDs. In a suitcase with a double bottom, she carried the documents to the camp. One hundred and twenty people, thanks to Piaf, gained freedom.

Last "I love you". The only thing that was not given to Piaf was to create family comfort. There was a grand piano in her living room, and chairs for a crowd of visitors were in a chaotic order around. One day, someone brought 20-year-old hairdresser Theofanis Lamboukis to her house. Burning beauties Theo, the son of Greek emigrants, with
childhood was bewitched by the talent of Edith Piaf. He worshiped her like a goddess. Piaf was 46 years old. She already knew she had cancer. Dying slowly, she could hardly hold the fork in her twisted fingers. But the eyes of young Theo burned with such love that, after woeful reflections, Piaf agreed to marry him, and began to call Theofanis - Theo Sarapo. "Sarapo" in Greek - "I love you" . The young Greek did not seem to notice how bad the woman he loved looked. He cut her food into pieces and trembled with admiration at the sight of her bringing the food to her mouth. Public opinion watered their union with mud and slander. Theo was called a gigolo, and his artistic experiments were perceived with even greater irritation. In defense of her husband, Piaf, who was barely on her feet, sang from one of the floors of the Eiffel Tower the song “My life begins today with you ...”

Edith Piaf died in Theo Sarapo's arms a year after their marriage. The last thing the Lord gave her to see during her lifetime was the passionately in love look of a devoted and inconsolable young husband in grief.

Not only the songs of this great French artist, but also her biography has been exciting people all over the world for more than half a century. Maybe because Piaf was almost the first who embodied the now well-known myth about a teenager from the gateway, who, by the will of talent and luck, stepped towards resounding success and fame. Elvis and the Liverpool Four will be announced later.

Edith Piaf lived only 48 years, leaving behind a lot of wonderful song recordings, the throne of the queen of French chanson, still not really occupied, as well as a bright and very instructive fate.

Nativity scene girl

Edith Gasion (this is her real name) was born in December 1915 in a family of street circus performers. According to legend, the mother did not have time to get to the hospital, and the girl was born right on the street - on a policeman's raincoat. There was a war, the father was soon taken to the front, the frivolous mother gave the baby to be raised by her alcoholic parents. No one looked after the girl, she fell ill and, practically, went blind.

Returning from the war, his father took Edith to his mother. She adored her granddaughter, but her occupation was not ordinary - her grandmother kept a brothel. True, the girls from the institution fell in love with the baby, arranged a collective prayer for her health, and a miracle happened - Edith regained her sight. But she studied at school for only a year. The parents of other children were categorically against the girl from a shameful environment. Then the father, who worked as a street acrobat, took Edith to be his partner. At first she simply collected money from the public, then sometimes she began to sing. And, finally, it became not entirely clear what brings in income - the father's acrobatic stunts or the singing of his young daughter.

At the age of 15, Edith decided to leave her father and took up street performances in the company of her half-sister and two friends. Very early, the future star began to have relationships with men, at the age of 17 she already gave birth to a daughter - the only child in her life. The daughter soon died, Edith broke up with her unlucky dad, as she will continue to be the first to part with men.

In October 1935, Edith Gasion met a man whom, not without reason, she began to call "dad". His name was Louis Leple, he kept a small restaurant. "Papa" Leple guessed a great talent in a street girl, brought her to the stage in his restaurant, he also came up with her pseudonym "Piaf", which in French means "little sparrow". Visitors to the restaurant immediately drew attention to the unusual singer, who did not resort to the banal stage techniques of pop artists, who did not pretend to be anyone other than who she really was.

The newly-minted singer Edith Piaf began to develop a repertoire and style, the first success came. But fate was already preparing a blow: "daddy" Leple was killed. The name Piaf was dragged into this murder of the newspaper, it seemed that her reputation was forever ruined, her job was lost, the fans turned to other idols.

Paris, France, the whole world...

The revival of the singer to fame was facilitated by Raymond Asso - the author of lyrics for songs, an educated and intelligent person. They agreed. A new serious lover took on the personality of Edith - he taught her to write and read, taught her good manners, the ability to behave in society, dress with taste, present herself. He also composed texts for Piaf's new repertoire, and found an excellent composer for her - Marguerite Monod.

And now Edith Piaf appeared before a sophisticated audience on the stage of the most famous Parisian music hall "ABC". The very first concert made Edith a metropolitan celebrity. She learned the lessons of Leple and Asso well - she always carefully selected songs for her program, imbued with the meaning of these songs and appropriated them to herself, her image - a small, gray, but proud and independent Parisian sparrow.

True to herself, Piaf rushed from one man to another, the chosen ones were most often people from her childhood circle - a legionnaire, an aspiring actor, an athlete. After the war, she met boxer Marcel Cerdan, then went on tour to the United States, where Cerdan soon showed up. Passionate feelings flared up. With this strong and luxurious man, Piaf found her, perhaps, the only true love. In any case, he was the very man she could not leave herself. They lived openly, but Marcel never left his wife and three sons. The lovers quarreled noisily, then happily reconciled ... And suddenly the news: Marcel Cerdan died in a plane crash.

Piaf endured the next blow of fate badly: she began to drink, fell into revelry, went out unrecognized in old rags into the street and sang to passers-by. To top it off, Edith herself was in a car accident, ended up in a hospital, and became addicted to painkillers. She was treated for drugs and returned to them again. She made attempts to commit suicide.

last song

She was saved from madness and death, of course, by her attachment to the stage. The audience adored their "sparrow", Edith Piaf was forgiven for everything - a breaking voice, a tasteless appearance, a drunken gait. No signs of everyday life could take away from Piaf the greatness and the title of the first singer of France.

She was diagnosed with cancer, Piaf's hands were shackled with arthritis, she could not part with alcohol ... And yet, her ability to charm men did not let Edith down in her later years. At 47, she married the hairdresser Theo Sarapo, who was two decades her junior. He was talented, Piaf even managed to bring him to the stage, but this time the singer could not make him a real pop star, as she once did with Yves Montand. She passed away in the autumn of 1963.

Her last lover Theo Sarapo outlived his famous wife by only seven years. By a strange whim of fate, he died in a car accident and was buried in the same grave with his great Edith Piaf.

Edith Piaf did not recognize sanctimonious morality and obeyed only her feelings. Fearing loneliness, the great singer threw herself into the very flames of passions. And she humbly accepted the suffering that fell to her lot, repeating: "Love must be paid with bitter tears."

THE BEGINNING OF THE LEGEND

On a dank evening, a tiny figure in a shabby coat appeared on the street of the poorest quarter of Paris, stopped at the corner and suddenly began to sing. Passers-by, hurrying on business, froze, listening to the powerful voice of a small ragged woman.

The girl's name was Edith Giovanna Gassion, she was only fifteen. Years later, she will remember these street performances and selflessly construct the legend of her life. She will even tell that her mother gave birth to her right on the dirty sidewalk ...

In fact, Edith was born in a clinic in Belleville, a disadvantaged Parisian area. Mother, a cheap cabaret singer named Annette, drank and worked as a prostitute. She quickly lost interest in the baby and sent her to her alcoholic parents.

The father, who returned from the front, saw the situation in which little Edith got into, immediately took the sickly girl to his mother, the owner of the brothel. Strange, but in a place so unsuitable for a child, Edith lived well: the girls took care of her, fed and dressed her up.

At the age of three, the girl became blind: due to an infection, the corneas of her eyes became inflamed. When the doctors could not help her, the priestesses of love put on modest clothes and went to church to pray to Saint Teresa for recovery. And the miracle happened!

Life in a brothel made Edith tolerant of other people's vices, but distorted her idea of ​​​​love: "I was not sentimental, it seemed to me that a woman should follow a man at the first call."

DIFFICULT FREEDOM

At fourteen, Edith was already performing on the streets of Paris with her acrobat father, and then settled in a cheap hotel with her half-sister Momon. Thus began her independent life ...

“Many people think that my early years were terrible. It's not, they were great! — said the singer. Yes, I was starving, freezing in the streets. But she was free: she could get up late, dream, hope ... "

At sixteen, Edith fell in love with the messenger Louis Dupont and gave birth to a daughter from him, whom she named Marcella. However, she soon almost forgot about the existence of both: every day she sang on the street, and spent the evenings in a cafe in the company of petty thieves.

In the hope of returning the windy girlfriend, Louis took his daughter to him. But two years later, deprived of care, Marcella died of meningitis. The death of the baby shocked Edith, but she preferred to live in the future. The young woman could not even imagine that she was not destined to become a mother again ...

SONG BIRD

The pimp Albert became a new friend of Edith. He took most of the money that Edith earned by singing and tried to force her to serve customers. Edith refused, and one day he put the barrel of a pistol to his mistress's temple.

The girl ran away when her friend Nadia, who did not want to engage in prostitution, decided to take her own life. Twenty-year-old Edith was going downhill, and then fate unexpectedly gave her a chance for salvation: Louis Leple, owner of the Zhernis cabaret, heard her singing.

Edith was so nervous that she almost failed her audition. But as soon as she began to sing, not a trace of excitement remained. Leple looked at the miniature girl and came up with a pseudonym - Baby Piaf ("piaf" is translated as "sparrow").

Songbird knitted herself a simple black dress for her debut. Her nondescript appearance was more than offset by a powerful voice, and from the very first song she conquered the demanding audience. Leple realized that he had found a real diamond, and set about cutting it: he taught Edith the basics of stagecraft, introduced her to secular circles.

The serene life did not last long. In April 1936, Louis Leple was found murdered in his apartment, and a shocked Edith was considered an accomplice in the crime. The press wrote in detail about the singer's past connections with the criminal world.

The poet Raymond Asso came to the rescue. He became the new producer of Songbird, won a contract with the famous ABC theater and warded off dubious friends from the ward.


Edith Piaf and Raymond Asso

By the end of the 1930s, Edith had become a successful and wealthy singer. Raymond treated his Galatea unceremoniously, forcing her to behave properly in society. Collaboration quickly grew into a stormy romance.

TIME TO GIVE

Happiness was interrupted by the Second World War. Raymond went to the front, and Edith had an affair with actor Paul Maurice. "I hate being alone, I just can't live in an empty house!" she sighed. Restrained Paul was the exact opposite of sociable Edith, but they were drawn to each other.

During the war, the most famous French singer not only continued to perform, but also managed to help prisoners of war. “If God allowed me to earn so much, it is only because He knows that I will give everything,” Edith assured. And she kept her word, generously endowed everyone.

Piaf did not skimp on money or feelings. She plunged into relationships, forgetting about everything, she was torn apart by unbridled passion and jealousy.

In 1944, at one of the concerts, the newly-made star noticed a freelance chansonnier named Yves Montand. The friends accompanying the singer, having heard his singing, were completely delighted and applauded for a long time.

“I don’t know what you see in him,” Piaf said irritably. “He sings terribly and can’t dance, and on top of that, he’s also so narcissistic!”

Nevertheless, friends convinced Edith to change her anger to mercy. She watched another performance by Montana and admitted: the guy has abilities. Piaf was so honest with herself and others that she even apologized to Yves for the words spoken in a narrow circle of friends.

Yves Montand and Edith Piaf

Thirty-year-old Piaf became Montana's mentor, wrote songs for him, introduced him to the right people. She claimed that only a platonic relationship connected her with Yves. But few believed in it...

IN THE RING WITH FATE

After the war, Edith's fame crossed the ocean, and the singer was offered a US tour. At her concert in New York, by chance, was the world boxing champion Marcel Sedan, a Frenchman of Arab origin. The reputation of an exemplary family man did not prevent him from starting to care for Piaf.

Dinner at a luxurious restaurant turned into a date. Marcel was the first man who needed Edith herself, and not her talent, connections or money. He gave Piaf jewelry, invited to matches and did not hide his love.

Marcel Sedan and Edith Piaf

Next to the “sparrow”, the boxer turned into a teddy bear. Edith knitted sweaters for her beloved and accompanied him to training. “My relationship with Marcel gave my chaotic life a kind of precarious balance,” she recalled.

In the autumn of 1949, Piaf again performed in the United States and desperately missed Cerdan, who remained in Europe. “I beg you, come quickly!” Edith screamed into the phone. He, too, was eager to see her, he heeded her pleas and abandoned the idea of ​​sailing by steamer.

The plane crashed over the Azores ... This is the end of the fairy tale about the queen of music and the king of the ring.

HYMN OF LOVE

The news of the death of a loved one crippled Edith. Her sister hardly kept her from suicide, but she could not save her from self-destruction. “I don’t want to live, I’m already dead,” Piaf repeated, looking for oblivion in drugs and alcohol.

The singer attended séances and sat alone for hours, tormenting herself with reproaches. Immersed in a severe depression, a woman with a haggard face hardly looked like the great Piaf, who had recently sparkled with happiness.

Edith never recovered from the loss. In memory of Marseille, she wrote the song "Hymn of Love", which she never performed. Piaf's rare concerts were held with a tragic anguish, which earned her the fame of a "singer of grief."

Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf

Loneliness Edith brightened up a little friendship with the young singer Charles Aznavour, who took over the duties of a personal secretary. And again, a tragedy almost happened - Edith and Charles got into a severe car accident.

To numb the pain in a broken arm and ribs, the doctor prescribed Piaf morphine. Relatives did not recognize the singer: she lived from dose to dose, purposefully destroying herself. Even the romance and subsequent marriage with chansonnier Jacques Pill did not give her strength.

During the four years of family life, Piaf saw doctors and nurses more often than her husband. Jacques, a faithful and caring husband, unfortunately, also suffered from alcoholism. The outcome of the marriage was a foregone conclusion.

TRYING TO STOP THE PAIN...

After the divorce, the singer was waiting for another accident and another attempt to drown out the pain with morphine. “I felt an indomitable need to destroy myself,” she admitted. “But, approaching the edge of the abyss, I always wanted to go upstairs.”

Piaf's premonition did not deceive: fate presented the 47-year-old singer with a farewell gift. The 27-year-old Greek Theophanis Lamboukas was handsome and well built. And he looked so reverently at Edith with his dark eyes that she gave up ...

Theo Sarapo. and Edith Piaf

So the hairdresser with a complicated name turned into the singer Theo Sarapo. Edith chose this name, remembering that "sarapo" in Greek means "I love you." Because, weakened by illness and grief, Piaf fell in love again.

In October 1962, the couple got married. Many considered the Greek gigolo, but Theo touchingly looked after his wife, and the voices of ill-wishers were silent. He drove Piaf in a wheelchair, did not leave his wife's bed for a second and carefully concealed from her a terrible diagnosis - cancer.

But Edith felt the approach of death and therefore forced her husband to take an oath: he would never fly on airplanes. Theo kept his promise, but he failed to deceive fate: he died in a car accident, outliving his wife by only seven years.

But that was later, and then Theo had to put an end to the beautiful and sad legend of Edith Piaf. She died on October 10, 1963 on the Riviera. Bursting with tears, Theo put his wife's body in the car and rushed off to Paris. He understood that the life of the great Piaf should end where it began, in the city of love.

SOME FACTS

The singer got her name in honor of the nurse Edith Cavell, who was shot by the Germans in the First World War.

Louis Leple strictly ordered the singer to wear a black dress to concerts. Later, black dresses became the singer's trademark.

Edith found out about Marcel's death on the day of the next concert, but found the strength to go on stage, saying that she would sing for her beloved.

Upon learning of Edith's death, her friend and poet Jacques Cocteau said quietly: "I want to die next." He passed away a few hours later.

Theo did everything to give the public the impression that Edith had died in Paris. He believed that the singer, who personified France, should complete her journey in this city.

The height of Edith Piaf is 1.47 m. The sign of the zodiac is Sagittarius. Birthday - December 19, 1915. Day of death - October 10, 1963 (Grace, France).