Édith Piaf

[online.education]

Are you a fan of Édith Piaf?

Despite numerous published biographies, many facts and events of Édith's life are shrouded in mystery. She was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris, the high-immigration district later described by Daniel Pennac. Legend has it that she was born on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72, but her birth certificate states she was born at Hôpital Tenon, the hospital for the 20th arrondissement of which Belleville is part. She was named Édith after the World War I British nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed for helping French soldiers escape from German captivity. Piaf—a Parisian colloquialism for "sparrow"—originated as a nickname she would receive twenty years later.

Her mother, Annetta Giovanna Maillard (1895–1945), was a part-Italian native of Livorno, a port city on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. She was working as a café singer under the name Line Marsa. Louis-Alphonse Gassion (1881–1944), Edith's father, was a street acrobat with a past in the theatre. Little Édith was soon abandoned by her parents, lived for a short time with her maternal grandmother, Emma (Aïcha) Saïd ben Mohammed (1876–1930), (a Kabyle). Shortly thereafter, Édith's father took the child to his mother, who ran a brothel in Normandy, and he then joined the French Army (1916). Thus, Édith was in contact with the prostitutes and the various attendees of the brothel since her early years, a circumstance which must have had a deep impact on her personality and view of life.

From the age of three to seven Édith was allegedly blind, suffering from an eye condition, most likely keratitis or iritis; and from eight to fourteen she was allegedly deaf. According to one of Piaf's biographies, she recovered her sight in what is known as a "miracle", after her grandmother's prostitutes pooled money to send her on a pilgrimage honoring Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. In 1929, at fourteen, she joined her father in his acrobatic street performances. She then took a room at Grand Hôtel de Clermont (18 rue Veron, Paris 18ème) and separated from him, going her own way as a street singer in Pigalle, Ménilmontant, and the Paris suburbs (cf. the song "Elle fréquentait la Rue Pigalle"). She was about sixteen years old when she fell in love with a delivery boy, Louis Dupont. Shortly afterward she had her only child, a little girl named Marcelle, who died at the age of two of meningitis.

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In case you don't know her, her song "Tu es partout" is featured in the movie Saving Private Ryan.

[Michelle]

Thanks for posting this, it was very educational Edith Piaf was 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) tall; no wonder she was nicknamed after a tiny bird. I have a movie about her--La Vie en Rose--on my Netflix queue.

[online.education]

Many may not know her name, but I'm pretty sure that most people recognize her voice and her songs. She was one of the most significant figures in 20th century France, and though many may not like to admit, France's cultural influence was great.