Edith Piaf (1915-1963) – French actress and singer.

Childhood

Her real name is Edith Giovanna Gassion, the birth of this baby took place on a Parisian sidewalk on December 19, 1915. A policeman came running to the cry of the newborn, he gave the woman a cloak in which she wrapped her newly born daughter and said that she would name her Edith. And a month later she gave the baby to her parents to raise.

Edith's mother, failed circus performer Anette Maillard, performs on stage under the name Lina Marsa. Dad, Louis Gassion, was a street acrobat. When the First World War began, he volunteered to go to the front. At the end of 1915, he received two days of leave specifically to see his daughter who was born.

Anette's parents began to raise their granddaughter in a unique way. No one was watching the girl, and so that she would not bother her with her crying, a little wine was added to the milk, which was the main daily product for them. The grandmother was an illiterate person; they did not bathe the baby or talk to her.

In 1917, Louis's father came to visit the family, but learned that Anette had abandoned him and given her daughter to her parents. He went to see them and discovered that the baby was not entirely healthy. Louis did not want to leave the girl in such conditions and took her to his mother Louise Gassion, who worked as a cook in a brothel.

In this establishment they bathed the girl, scraped off the crust of dirt from her, put on a fresh dress, and she turned out to be an incredibly lovely child, but, unfortunately, completely blind.

It turned out that in the first months of her life, the baby began to develop cataracts, but the previous “educators” did not care about this.

Grandmother Louise spared nothing for her granddaughter; she paid the doctors money, but they were powerless and could not help the girl gain her sight. All that was left was to ask God for help. The women from the brothel were so kind to Edith that they constantly prayed to Saint Teresa for her healing.

On August 19, 1921, grandmother Louise and her little granddaughter went to the city of Luziers to the altar of St. Therese, where rivers of pilgrims flocked every year. Louise begged for insight for Edith, the girl began to see six days later, on August 25, 1921. The first thing that appeared to her eyes were the piano keys. Since then, Edith Piaf has never parted with the images of the baby Jesus and Saint Teresa.

The war ended, the father returned home, he sent his daughter to school. However, her training quickly ended. Parents of classmates were against the fact that a girl living in a brothel was studying with their children. Edith had no choice but to start working with her father in the squares and streets of Paris. She sang, and dad showed circus acrobatic acts.

Youth

Louis Gassion dated various women. But when another of them began to extort the money she had earned from Edith, the girl turned around and left home, deciding that she could fully provide for herself.

She got a job in a dairy shop. However, she quickly became disliked such work, because she had to get up early and constantly tinker with milk bottles.

Edith decided to return to her previous street craft.

Now she worked not with her father, but with two of her friends. Soon she broke up with them and began collaborating with her half-sister on her father's side, Simone. They earned a good income per day, which was quite enough for a room in a run-down hotel, for canned goods, and wine, and for new things when the old ones were no longer possible to wear due to dirt. The girls did not bother to wash their clothes or prepare food from the ingredients.

Cabaret "Zhernis"

Edith was twenty years old when a fateful acquaintance took place in her life.
It was October, it was cold outside, she stood in a huge coat with holes in the sleeves and shoes on her bare feet. I waited a long time for someone to give a coin to the street singer. A well-groomed man of about forty in a smart suit and kid gloves approached and said mockingly: “You’re crazy to sing in this weather!” Edith answered rudely: “But I need to eat at least something.”. He tore off a piece of newspaper, wrote the address and told her to come to the audition at four o'clock tomorrow. He also gave 5 francs so that she could buy food for herself.

Edith was an hour late for the audition. He was waiting for her anyway and took her to the Zhernis cabaret, which was located on the Champs-Elysees. Never in her life had Edith seen such luxury; then she did not yet know that this was the most fashionable and expensive establishment in Paris, the cream of society gathered here. “Go on stage and sing everything you know”“, said yesterday’s new acquaintance, cabaret owner Louis Leple. He listened to it for two hours and realized that he had found a nugget. He looked carefully at the girl and said: “You need a pseudonym. Piaf will do"(in French this word means “little sparrow”). Thus was born the star of French and world songs, Edith Piaf.

On the day of her debut, she experienced intense fear for the first time in her life. Entering the stage, I saw insane luxury in the hall: the cream of society, tuxedos, bow ties, furs and diamonds, delicacies on the tables. And who is she? Like a little monkey from a Parisian zoo, in a fancy dress, with a ridiculous hairstyle and brightly painted red lips. The audience laughed and ate deliciously. Edith got angry with them and began to sing, as soulfully and desperately as never before in her life.

It was a triumph. Louis Leple was jubilant. Then work began, he taught Edith facial expressions and stage gestures, rehearsing with an accompanist, choosing a costume.

In the winter of 1936, Piaf already performed at the Medrano circus at a large concert of French pop stars. This was followed by a performance at Radio City. Edith Piaf was approaching stunning success; radio listeners demanded only her songs. But tragedy struck: Louis Leple was shot in the head. Suspicion fell on Piaf because he included her in his will and left a certain amount of money after his death.

The great Edith Piaf

God gave her another acquaintance; it determined Edith’s future fate. This time with the poet Raymond Asso. He taught her everything in the profession and in life, created the Piaf style, wrote the best songs for her:

• "Paris - Mediterranean";
• "Pennant for the Legion";
• “She lived on the Rue Pigalle”;
• "My legionnaire."

The music for the songs was written by Marguerite Monnot, who later became Edith's close friend.

Raymond Asso paved the way for Edith Piaf to the most famous musical hall in Paris, ABC. After her performance, the press wrote: “Yesterday in Paris, on the ABC stage, a great singer was born.”

An amazing voice, unsurpassed dramatic talent, perseverance and hard work - all this led the stubborn street girl to the pinnacle of success. She bought herself a house in the center of Paris; the best designers were involved in its arrangement. However, having moved in, she felt uncomfortable in the luxurious bedroom with antique furniture and preferred to sleep in the concierge’s room. The house was always full of friends, some lived there for a month, there was no shortage of caviar and champagne, Piaf never knew exactly how much money she currently had.

When World War II began, Edith separated from Raymond. She tried herself as an actress in the play “The Indifferent Handsome Man” by the French director Jean Cocteau; a year later, the film “Montmartre on the Seine” was made based on this play, where Piaf played the main role.

A small, courageous woman performed in German camps in front of French prisoners of war, and then, along with autographs, gave them things to escape from. She did charity work and gave concerts for the families of the victims.

Edith helped such celebrities as Charles Aznavour and Yves Montand start their creative musical path. Her records were published in millions of copies. She became great because she experienced suffering in life, and this helped her be sincere on stage.

In the last years of her life, she sang her most famous songs - world masterpieces:

• “Padam, padam”;
• "My lord";
• "I do not regret anything";
• "Crowd";
• "The right to love."

Personal life

Men appeared early in Edith Piaf's life, and there were many of them; she fell in love and left her lovers with enviable regularity. At the age of 17, she began a relationship with Louis Dupont, who worked part-time delivering groceries, delivering them on a bicycle. On the same day they met, Louis moved into the hotel room where Edith lived with her sister.

A year later their daughter Marcel was born. This event did not change Edith’s life in any way; she continued to work in the same spirit. Louis demanded a choice between him and his daughter and work. Edith chose a job, and Louis left her at the same hour.

Little Marcel was left alone at night when her mother went to her performances. Soon the girl fell ill with the Spanish flu, she was admitted to the hospital, where she died in the arms of her unlucky mother. Edith did not grieve much about this; after a few days she had a wild time with friends and wine, not knowing then that she would never have children again.

The greatest love of her life was the world boxing champion, Frenchman Marcel Cerdan.

He gave Edith the first mink coat in her life, and she bought him diamond cufflinks, chic suits and crocodile skin shoes. But he was married, had three sons, and for the sake of his family maintained the limits of decency.

Cerdan crashed during a plane crash, and Piaf could not survive this tragedy without the help of morphine, as a result of which she became addicted to drugs.

Her last love was the Greek hairdresser Theo Sarapo. He was only 26 years old; in 1962, a wedding ceremony took place in the Orthodox Church. He knew her diagnosis and that Edith had no more than a year to live.

last years of life

A few years after Cerdan’s death, Edith herself was in a car accident; broken ribs and arms gave her pain, which she relieved with the help of drugs. Her health was fading rapidly, attacks of delirium tremens were replaced by hepatic comas and courses of treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction. She cut her hair, lost a lot of weight, and her face looked like a skull covered in skin. Doctors diagnosed liver cancer.

In 1963, her liver failed, the singer stopped eating, she was tormented by terrible pain, Edith weighed 34 kilograms. On October 10, 1963, Piaf died unconscious.

She was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery. More than forty thousand fans covered her final path with flowers.

As the great Edith Piaf said: “Even a telephone directory can be sung so that the audience will cry”. And she was the only one in the world who could sing like that. It has its own place in the history of the song.

Piaf Édith (1915–1963), French singer and actress.

She was born on December 19, 1915 in Mesnilmontant, one of the poorest areas of Paris. According to stories, this event took place right on Belleville Street under a street lamp. Born Edith Giovanna Gassion. Named after the English nurse Edith Cavel, a heroine of the First World War who was shot by the Germans. Daughter of the traveling acrobat Louis Alphonse Gassion (1881–1944) and his wife Annetta Giovanna Maillard (1895–1945). The girl's mother was of mixed Italian-Franco-Moroccan descent. Born in Livorno. She performed in street cafes under the pseudonym Lina Marsa. Sometimes she worked as a prostitute; abused alcohol.

Until she was one year old, the girl was in the care of her mother, Emma (Aisha) Said bin Mohammed (1876–1930).

In 1916, her father sent her to his mother, who ran a small brothel in the town of Bernay in Normandy. From three to seven years old, the girl had poor hearing and poor vision due to conjunctivitis. The prostitutes showed touching care for her and even collected money for a pilgrimage to St. Teresa. An appeal to higher powers brought healing to the child.

In 1922, Edith began to participate in her father's performances on the streets of Paris: she collected money and performed simple songs. Soon singing became the meaning of life for her. Later, the memories of her youth were reflected in her songwriting (“Elle fréquentait la Rue Pigalle”, 1939), etc. In 1929, together with her stepmother Simone Berteaut, nicknamed Mômone, she rented a room in the cheap hotel Grand Hotel de Clermont on Rue Veron, 18. She often changed lovers. From one of them, delivery boy Louis Dupont, in 1931 she gave birth to her only daughter, Marcelle, who died at the age of two from meningitis. She was dependent on the pimp Albert, who beat her and took away most of the proceeds.

In 1935, Edith met Louis Leplée, owner of the Le Gerny nightclub on the Champs-Elysees. He appreciated her talent and taught her first acting lessons. Louis Leple created an original image of the singer, the main attribute of which was a black dress. He also came up with the stage name Piaf (Sparrow in Parisian slang). The name suited little Edith very well: with a height of 1.47 cm, she had a daring and fearless disposition. Piaf quickly gained fame, became friends with the famous chansonnier Maurice Chevalier, poet Jacques Borgea and others. In January 1936, Piaf recorded her first discs at the Polydor studio. In the same year, her collaboration with the composer and lyricist Marguerite Monnot began.

However, the career almost ended before it really began. On April 6, 1936, Louis Leple was shot and killed in his apartment. The police detained the killers and established that they all previously knew Piaf. She was suspected of complicity in the crime. Despite the lack of evidence, Piaf's reputation suffered greatly. At this difficult moment, former legionnaire and poet Raymond Asso (1901–1968) became Piaf's close friend. He sharply limited her dubious connections, wrote several songs (“Un jeune homme chantait”, “Paris Méditerranée”, etc.). After Raymond Asso was drafted into the army in 1939, Piaf became involved with the actor and singer Paul Meurisse (Paul Gustave Pierre Meurisse, 1912–1979). Together with him she performed the main roles in Jean Cocteau's one-act play “The Indifferent Beauty” (1940).
During the occupation of Paris, Piaf lived in the same house where a respectable brothel for Wehrmacht officers was located. She often performed in German military units, for which she was later accused of collaboration.

According to Piaf herself, she carried out tasks from the leaders of the Resistance movement. After concerts in prison camps, she was photographed with French soldiers, supposedly as a souvenir. The prisoners' photographs were then pasted into false passports and used to escape.

In the post-war years, Piaf's songs won worldwide recognition. In 1947, she visited the United States for the first time, then made several triumphant tours of Europe and South America. Piaf was invited to the Ed Sullivan Show eight times. In 1956 and 1957 she performed on the stage of New York's Carnegie Hall. Since 1955, its main concert venue in Paris has been the legendary Olympia Hall.

Piaf willingly patronized young aspiring singers, who often became her close friends. So, in 1944 she brought Yves Montand (1921–1991) to the stage, who a year later became one of the most popular French chansonniers. In 1951, Piaf launched the career of Charles Aznavour (born 1924), who accompanied her on a trip to France and the USA. For some time, Charles Aznavour served as her personal secretary and driver. Together with him, Piaf got into a terrible car accident, breaking her arm and two ribs. She started taking morphine to relieve pain.

In the summer of 1948, Piaf met Marcel Cerdan (1916–1949), world super welterweight boxing champion. Both were gripped by a deep, all-consuming feeling that they did not even try to hide. Marcel Cerdan had a wife and three children, nevertheless he openly appeared with Piaf in public. The press widely discussed the smallest details of their romance. However, it ended tragically. On October 28, 1949, Marcel Cerdan traveled to the United States for a rematch with Jake La Motta. Before the fight, he was going to meet Piaf in New York. The Lockheed L 749 Constellation plane carrying Marcel Cerdan crashed near the Azores. All passengers and crew members were killed. For Piaf, the death of Marcel Cerdan was a huge shock. Piaf tried to overcome prolonged depression with the help of alcohol. In memory of Marcel Cerdan, she wrote the song “Hymne a l’amour” (1949).

In 1952, Piaf married singer Jacques Pills (1906–1970).

At the end of 1958, P. began collaborating with composer Georges Moustaki (born 1934), who became her closest friend for several years. In collaboration with him, she wrote the famous song “Milord”, which in 1959 topped all the world hit parades. That same year, Piaf severely cut her face in another car accident. Her physical and moral condition was undermined. During a performance at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, Piaf collapsed on stage due to severe abdominal pain. Soon a similar attack was repeated in Stockholm. However, in 1960, Piaf recorded one of her masterpieces, “Non je ne regrette rien,” created in collaboration with Charles Dumont.

In 1961, Piaf met Théo Sarapo (1936–1970). Born Theophanis Lamboukas. A native of Greece, he worked in a hairdressing salon and dreamed of becoming an artist. As has happened many times before, Piaf completely succumbed to the charm of the young talent. On October 9, 1962, they registered their marriage at the city hall of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The unequal union caused a lot of talk and gossip. The press openly called Theo Sarapo a gold digger. Despite the significant age difference, Theo Sarapo sincerely loved Piaf and surrounded her with care and attention. The union turned out to be quite successful creatively. Together with Piaf she recorded several songs, one of which (“A quoi ca sert l’amour?”) became a hit in 1962. The audience warmly greeted the performance of the family duet on the stage of the Olympia and Bobino theaters.

In 1963, Edith Piaf was diagnosed with liver cancer. She fell into a coma and spent the last months of her life at her villa in Plascassier on the French Riviera. Piaf died on October 11, 1963, on the same day as her friend Jean Cocteau. The Catholic Church refused to perform Piaf's funeral, but tens of thousands of fans saw her off on her last journey to the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

In 1970, T. Sarapo, who died in a car accident, was buried in a nearby grave.

Edith Piaf, real name Edith Giovanna Gassion, was born on 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 who fought in the First World War.

Soon after birth, the baby was given to be raised by her maternal grandmother, who treated the child poorly.

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, the grandmother took Edith to Lisieux to Saint Therese, where thousands of pilgrims from all over France gather annually, and the girl regained her sight.

Edith went to school until she was eight, but then her father took her to Paris, where they began working together in the squares - the father showed acrobatic tricks, and the daughter sang.

Later she began performing alone as a street singer. At the age of 17, Edith gave birth to a daughter, Marcelle, who died of meningitis two years later.

The turning point in Edith's fate was when the impresario Louis Leple, the owner of the fashionable cabaret "Jernice", located next to the Champs-Elysees, heard her singing and invited her to perform in his establishment with the song "Homeless Girls".

The singer’s small stature (less than one and a half meters) and her appearance prompted the cabaret owner to come up with the stage name Baby Piaf, which means “sparrow” in Parisian slang.

The success of the first performances was enormous. Especially for Edith, Jacques Bourget wrote the first songs - “Words without history” and “Ragman”.

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 towards fame.

After the murder of Louis Leple in April 1936, Edith came under police suspicion. The newspapers published her photograph 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 the “Piaf style,” based on the singer’s individuality. He wrote the songs “Paris - Mediterranean”, “She lived on Pigalle Street”, “My Legionnaire”, “Pennant for the Legion”. The story of Edith Piaf became the story of her songs. Asso secured a performance for the singer at the ABC music hall on the Grands Boulevards, the most famous music hall in Paris.

From that time on, the singer performed under the name Edith Piaf. In 1939, Edith separated from 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, “The Indifferent Handsome Man,” first shown in the 1940 season. Edith's performance impressed director Georges Lacombe, who based the play on the film "Montmartre-sur-Seine" (Montmartre-sur-Seine, 1941) with Edith Piaf in the title role.

During the occupation of France (1940-1944), the singer performed a lot in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, took photographs with German officers and French prisoners of war “as a souvenir,” and then in Paris, these photographs were used to make false documents for soldiers who escaped from the camp. Edith would then go to the same camp and secretly distribute false ID cards to prisoners of war.

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

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

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

In 1958, Edith performed successfully at the Olympia concert hall. That same year, her 11-month tour of America began, followed by further performances at Olympia and a tour of France.

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

On 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 don’t regret anything,” “The Crowd,” “My Lord,” “You Can’t Hear,” “The Right to Love.” .

In October 1962, she married hairdresser Theo Lambukas, a Greek by nationality. Edith came up with the pseudonym Sarapo (Greek for “I love you”).

In April 1963, Piaf recorded her last song.

In the cinema, Edith Piaf played leading roles in the films Star Without Light (1946) and Lovers of Tomorrow (Les Amants de demain, 1959), she also starred in the dramas Affairs in Versailles. and “French Cancan”, released in 1954, etc.

Who doesn’t know the greatest French singer, whose songs became world hits, and she herself is a role model for millions? But not everyone knows how many trials she had to endure. She survived a difficult - almost hungry - childhood, the death of a child, 2 car accidents, 7 operations, 3 comas, several attacks of delirium tremens, a bout of insanity, a suicide attempt, and two world wars.

The only thing she did not survive was liver cancer in the last stage, which was discovered in her 2 years before her death. And if you ever once again want to complain about your fate, just remember the “little sparrow” of Paris, the woman who, until her last days, walked forward without giving up, winning the hearts of millions, inspired and gifted with the power to love - Edith Piaf.

1. Edith Piaf (real name Edith Giovanna Gasion) was born on December 19, 1915. Almost on the same day, the girl’s mother, failed actress Anita Mayar, gave the girl to be raised by her mother while her husband was at the front. But she didn’t need it - in order to calm down the girl who was bothering her with her crying, the “loving” grandmother fed the child with diluted wine. This feeding bore fruit - by the age of three, Edith became completely blind.

2. Later, a legend will appear related to the birth of Edith. However, it is unlikely to correspond to reality, but according to it, a girl was born under a street lamp in winter on one of the streets of Paris.

3. As soon as Edith's father, Louis Gasion, finds out about this, he immediately sends the girl to be raised by her mother, who ran a brothel. However, she fell in love with her granddaughter and took care of her. She did everything so that the girl could see. And in 1925 she succeeded. When there was no longer any hope for Edith’s recovery, her grandmother took her to Lisieux to Saint Theresa. A few days later, my beloved granddaughter - oh, miracle - began to see again.

4. Edith herself, recalling this, said: “My life began with a miracle. At the age of four I fell ill and went blind. My grandmother took me to Lisieux to the altar of Saint Theresa and begged her for my insight. Since then, I have not parted with the images of Saint Theresa and the baby Jesus. And because I am a believer, death does not frighten me. There was a period in my life after the death of a person dear to me when I myself called on her. I have lost all hope. Faith saved me."

5. At school, Edith was immediately disliked, which is not surprising - the girl lived in a brothel. The girl could not stand this, and soon her father took her to Paris. There, a 9-year-old girl begins to work with her father in the city squares: the father showed acrobatic tricks, and the daughter sang. Edith never fully learned to read and write - even in the songs she composed herself, there were mistakes. But who cares now?

6. At the age of 15, Edith met her half-sister, 11-year-old Simone, who began performing with Edith. My father's new family was experiencing enormous financial difficulties. Edith, in turn, helped them financially, but later this led to the girl leaving her father. Forever.

7. Edith continues to perform on the streets, where she is noticed and invited to sing in a cabaret. At the age of 16, Edith met Louis Duppon, the father of her only daughter Marcelle. However, her marriage was unsuccessful - her husband demanded that Edith give up work, and they separated. For some time, Edith's daughter stayed with her, but one day, not finding her at home, Edith realized that the girl was with her husband - he hoped that then his wife would return. But she didn't return. Moreover, the girl fell ill with meningitis, and a little later Edith herself became infected, who, however, recovered. But fate did not spare the girl here either - Marcel dies. Edith had no more children.

8. At the age of 20, Louis Leple noticed her and invited her to perform on the Champs-Elysees. He played a big role in Edith’s life and career: he taught her to choose songs, sing to the accompaniment, explained the importance of costume, facial expressions, behavior, and artist. It was he who made Edith Gasion into Edith Piaf. While still on the street she sang: “Born like a sparrow, lived like a sparrow, died like a sparrow.” On the posters they wrote: “Baby Piaf.” It was a success!

9. But the success did not last long. Soon Louis is killed, and Edith comes under suspicion because he left her some money. Thank God, this time everything ends well, and soon Piaf meets Raymond Asso - the man who makes Edith a great singer. It was he who sought her participation in a performance at the ABC musical hall, which was an initiation into the profession. Needless to say, the next day she woke up famous? Thanks to him, the story of Edith’s life became the story of songs and vice versa, no one could distinguish the stage image from Edith in reality.

10. Edith bathed in success and fame. Having heard her voice on the radio, people ask to play Little Piaf’s songs again and again.

11. During World War II, “Baby Piaf” meets Jean Cocteau, who invited her to play in the play “The Indifferent Handsome Man.” It was first shown in 1940. A year later, a film was made based on the play, in which Edith played the main role.

12. It’s hard to believe, but Edith Piaf was so popular and in demand that she could afford to perform in front of French prisoners of war. And after the concert, she managed to give them everything they needed to escape. Her fellow countrymen appreciated her personal courage and mercy, because she risked her life.

13. The post-war period became a time of special success for Edith. Her work was admired by the outskirts of Paris, art connoisseurs around the world, and even the future Queen of England.

14. Edith helped young talents. Charles Aznavour, Yves Montand, Eddie Constantin... These are not all the names that became known to the whole world thanks to the “little sparrow”.

15. In the post-war years, Edith meets the American boxer Marcel Cerdan, who became her greatest joy and greatest sadness. Fate again played a cruel joke on Edith - in 1949, flying to his beloved from New York, he crashed in a plane crash. Edith fell into a severe depression: she began drinking morphine, after which she had seizures, and once almost threw herself out of the window. She returned to the street again. Dressed in old clothes, she performed on the streets of Paris, and at night she brought unknown men to her place.

16. But the mourning could not last forever, and Edith returned to her solo career. And I was even able to fall in love again.

In 1952, Edith gets into two car accidents and breaks almost all her ribs and both arms. To ease her suffering, doctors inject her with morphine. It would seem that Edith is doomed to become addicted to drugs, but this fragile woman was not like that. Nevertheless, creativity no longer brought her the same pleasure, but Edith only became more immersed in her work.

17. In 1954, Edith starred in the historical film “If They Tell Me About Versailles.” A little later, she had an 11-month tour of America, and then of France - such stress caused great damage to her physical health. And in 1961, fate dealt the singer the strongest blow - doctors discovered Edith had liver cancer. But she continued to perform until the end of her days.

18. In recent years, she was supported by 27-year-old Theo, Piaf’s last love. In September 1962, overcoming pain, Piaf performed at the top of the Eiffel Tower. And six months later, the last concert in her life took place - the audience gave a standing ovation.

19. On October 10, 1963, Edith Piaf died. All of France buried her, and the whole world mourned her - an entire era of French chanson died with her.

20. Edith Piaf’s songs have remained with us forever, and the singer’s courage and willpower have left an indelible mark on people’s hearts. An autobiography was published during her lifetime. Whether everything in it corresponds to reality is unknown. But one thing is clear: this is how she wanted to remain in people’s memory.

“When I don’t die of love, when I have nothing to die of, then I’m ready to die!”

“I don’t sing for everyone - I sing for everyone.”

“Artists and audiences should not meet. After the curtain falls, the actor must disappear as if by magic.”

“Hands don’t lie like faces.”

In response to the doctors saying that she was killing herself, she continued to sing in front of the public: “This is the most beautiful way of suicide.”

“I led a terrible life, it’s true. But also - life is amazing. Because, first of all, I loved her."

“You often have to pay for love and happiness with tears.”

“I was hungry. I was freezing. But I was also free. Free not to get up in the morning, not to sleep at night, free to drink if I wanted, to dream... to hope.”

“This is the crowd that I hope will accompany me on my last journey, because I don’t like loneliness. The terrible loneliness that hugs you at dawn or at nightfall, when you ask yourself whether it is still worth living and what to live for?

December 2015 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of a French star named Edith Piaf. But it seems that no matter how many more centuries pass, the name of this brilliant singer will be just as famous, and her work will be just as revered as it is today. Edith Piaf's life is a series of ups and deepest downs. Perhaps, the heavens measured out the trials measured out for the life of this tiny woman, one and a half meters tall, as would be enough for ten people.

The death of an only child, two (according to other sources four) car accidents, seven major operations, addiction to drugs and alcohol, bouts of insanity and delirium tremens, a suicide attempt, three comas due to hepatitis, two world wars and the loss of a loved one - this is just tip of the iceberg. The biography of Edith Piaf is a string of tragedies that make it possible to call this woman a martyr and a sinner in equal measure.

Childhood and youth

Piaf was born in December 1915. Her parents - failed actress Anita Maillard and acrobat Louis Gassion - earned a living as best they could. The girl was born at the height of the First World War. The father went to the front, and the mother sent the baby to her grandmother. The woman abused alcohol and her granddaughter became a real burden for her. Therefore, wine was mixed into her bottle of milk so that she would constantly sleep.

Gassion, returning from the front, found his daughter in terrible condition. Exhausted, seemingly never washed, with festering eyes, the girl melted the soldier’s heart. Louis took the baby to Normandy to live with his elderly mother. Here, 3-year-old Edith Giovanna Gassion, which is Piaf's real name, finally learned what care and attention means. The grandmother noticed with horror that her granddaughter was blind. As it turned out, the former always tipsy “nanny” simply did not see the developed keratitis.

There is a legend that Saint Teresa, to whom thousands of pilgrims from all over the country came to Lisieux every year, managed to heal the blind Edith Giovanna. According to other sources, the baby was cured in the hospital, but at the same time the grandmother tirelessly prayed for her insight to Saint Teresa. Be that as it may, Edith’s vision returned. From then on, the portrait of the saint was constantly with her until the end of her life.

And everything would have been fine if it weren’t for the place where little Edith Piaf had to live with a kind old lady. It was a brothel. According to some sources, the woman worked here as a servant. According to others, she maintained the house. At school, a little girl was bullied so much that she had to leave her studies. The grandmother sent her 9-year-old granddaughter to her father in Paris.

Louis Gassion himself barely survived. He supported 8 children, Edith's half-brothers and sisters. All the father could do to help his eldest daughter was to take the child with him to work. He performed acrobatic acts in the streets and squares.

It turned out that the daughter could sing. While the man was performing, a tiny girl sang some simple song. Compassionate passers-by, looking at the singing child in beggarly rags, donated more money.

This is how the creative biography of Edith Piaf began, on the street. When the girl turned 14, she began to live an independent life, earning her rent by singing in various hot spots. Skinny, ugly, with vulgarly painted lips and eyes, in bright, never-washed rags, she looked terrible. But the voice - the voice was magnificent.

Music

The street singer was noticed by the owner of the Juan-les-Pins cabaret. When this awkward girl came on stage to sing, everyone froze. Surprisingly, at these moments she seemed unusually beautiful. Shop owner Louis Dupont fell in love with a cabaret singer. They started living together. At 17, Piaf became a mother. But she could not nurse little Marcel for days. The stage had long become a place for Edith, outside of which she could not imagine life.

To force the “negligent mother” to stay at home, Du Pont moved the baby to his home. He hoped that this way his wife would return to him. But Marcelle fell ill with meningitis that was raging in Paris, which doctors at that time did not really know how to treat. Edith Piaf came to the girl in the hospital and also became infected. She managed to recover, but Marcel died. The singer never had any more children. She left Louis after all.

In 1935, the 20-year-old singer came to the attention of the owner of the Zhernis cabaret, which was located on the Champs-Elysees. Louis Leple compared this priceless find to a rough diamond. It was he who came up with her stage name Piaf (little sparrow). The cut turned out to be tough. The future star was taught everything: to work with an accompanist, to dress tastefully, to behave correctly on stage, to watch facial expressions, to gesticulate.

Some biographers write that Leple did not stand on ceremony with the “acquisition.” He could easily slap the artist on the head. But he achieved the desired result. Soon a new star sparkled on the stage of Zhernis. On the first posters her name sounded like “Baby Piaf.” The success followed was unexpectedly loud.

And her debut performance on the radio allowed her to become famous throughout the country. Radio listeners flooded the editorial office with letters demanding “Baby Piaf.” The rapid rise was followed by a fall. Leple was found shot to death. Piaf also fell into the circle of suspects, because Louis also mentioned her in his will. The persecution began in the newspapers. The audience started riots during the singer’s performances.

A new takeoff occurred after a meeting with the famous poet Raymond Asso. He taught the rising star everything that Leple had not learned. Asso is credited with creating the "Piaf style". The songwriter wrote specially for her the compositions “Paris - Mediterranean”, “She lived on Pigalle Street”, “Pennant for the Legion” and “My Legionnaire”.

Soon the composer Marguerite Monnot joined this tandem, from whose collaboration the songs “Little Marie”, “The Devil Next to Me” and “Hymn of Love” were born.

Asso achieved a performance by Edith Piaf on the stage of the most popular music hall in Paris, ABC. Performing on these stages was equivalent to launching a ship into deep water. After the first performance, all Parisian newspapers wrote about the birth of the great French singer Edith Piaf.

During World War II, the star left Asso and began working with, a famous French director. He filmed the singer in his film “Indifferent Handsome Man.” A year later, in 1941, the artist again appeared on screen in Georges Lacombe's film Montmartre on the Seine.

It is known that the French legend contributed to the approach of victory. She performed for French prisoners of war and was photographed with them after the concert. These photographs were then used to make photographs for documents with which the prisoners could escape from the camp.

The singer's popularity in the post-war period was enormous. In 1955, Piaf performed at the Olympia, the legendary concert hall. After the performance, she immediately went on a multi-month tour throughout America.

Even then the star was very sick. Her health, undermined by serious illnesses, alcohol and drugs, which she used to suppress the pain from worsening arthritis, was completely undermined by this trip. The singer spent several months in the hospital.

In 1961, she was diagnosed with liver cancer. And in September 1962, the French “sparrow” was heard throughout Paris. From the height of the Eiffel Tower, Edith Piaf sang her best songs to her compatriots: “No, I don’t regret anything,” “My Lord,” and “The right to love.” The last time she came out to fans was on March 31, 1963. This was the stage of the opera house in Lille.

Personal life

Legends were told about her novels. Surprisingly, this small, generally ugly and even to some extent caricatured woman had incredible power over men. At the same time, she was always the first to leave her lovers, as soon as she realized that her feelings had cooled down.

So, for example, after 2 years of marriage, she did this with a 23-year-old man, whom she paved the way to the stage and taught him everything. There is talk of her having an affair with a Hollywood star. Allegedly, these two legendary women were connected not only by friendly feelings.

While touring America, the star met her famous compatriot, boxer Marcel Cerdan. He became the main man in Edith Piaf's life. At the time of their acquaintance, Cerdan had a wife and three sons. But he could not resist this great little woman, torn between his family and Piaf for the rest of his life. Wherever he was, he ran as fast as he could if Edith called him.

This is what happened on that terrible October day in 1949. She invited Marcel to New York, where she was then touring. Cerdan dropped everything and flew out. His plane crashed near the Azores. Marcel's remains were identified by a watch given to him by Piaf. The star saved herself from deep depression with morphine, alcohol and work.

Edith Piaf's personal life got a chance to change when the singer turned 36. She married singer Jacques Pils, but the marriage soon broke up. She never learned how to build a family nest and create comfort. Her home was a walk-through courtyard with a half-room piano, poor furniture and signs of neglect.

At the very end of Edith Piaf’s life, the son of Greek emigrants, Theofanis Lamboukis, wandered into this home. He turned out to be her longtime fan. This was the singer's last passion. The 20-year age difference, like all other conventions, did not interest the woman. At that time, she already knew her terrible diagnosis - cancer.

Edith married young Theophanis. She came up with his stage name Theo Sarapo and even tried - with the last of her fading strength - to bring him on stage. The attempt failed. The newspapers were choked with angry articles about the gigolo and his elderly patroness. Nevertheless, they were happy.

Death

Sarapo looked with adoration at this woman, emaciated by illness, almost bald, and until her last days he touchingly looked after her. He took her out for a walk and fed her. This continued throughout their entire family life, which lasted 11 months. But Theo did not survive Edith for long. He died in an accident 7 years after her death.

On October 10, 1963, the legend passed away. The church refused to perform her funeral service and burial ceremony, explaining that Edith Piaf’s whole life was a complete sin.

But the singer’s fans didn’t think so. More than 40 thousand people gathered at the Père Lachaise cemetery, where the star was buried. They brought with them so many flowers that they covered the entire alley to the grave in a thick ball.