TRIBUTE TO EDITH PIAF
In the footsteps of Edith Piaf in Paris
Edith Piaf (December 19, 1915 – October 11, 1963) was a French singer who became France's national diva and one of the biggest international stars. Her singing reflects her life, her specialty being song and ballads, especially of love, loss and grief. Among his songs, we can mention - "La Vie en rose" (1946), - "No, I don't regret anything" (1960), - "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), - "Milord" (1959) , - "The Crowd" (1957), - "The Accordionist" (1955), - "Padam ... Padam ..." (1951).
The Edith Piaf Museum is a private museum dedicated to singer Edith Piaf located in the 11th arrondissement at 5, rue Crespin du Gast, Paris. It is open by appointment; free entry. The museum was created by Bernard Marchois, author of two biographies of Piaf, and occupies two rooms within a private apartment. It contains memorabilia, including her porcelain collection, gold and platinum records, dresses and shoes, photographs, fan letters, sheet music, posters, and recordings.
72 Belleville Street
Despite numerous biographies, much of Piaf's life is shrouded in mystery.
She was born Edith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris.
Legend has it that she was born on the sidewalk of rue de Belleville 72, but her birth certificate mentions the Tenon hospital, the hospital in the 20th arrondissement, of which Belleville is a part.
From the age of three to seven, Piaf was reportedly blind due to keratitis. According to one of her biographies, she regained her sight after her grandmother's prostitutes pooled money to send her on a pilgrimage in honor of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Piaf claimed that this result was a miraculous recovery. All her life she kept a special cult of Thérèse, whose medal she kept around her neck all her life.
When she was 15, Edith met Simone "Mômone" Berteaut, who may have been her half-sister, certainly a companion for most of her life, and together they walked the streets singing and earning money for the first time.
In 1935, Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle district of Paris by nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club Le Gerny, near the Champs-Élysées, was frequented by both upper and lower classes. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness which, combined with her height of only 142 centimeters, inspired her with the nickname that would remain with her all her life and which would serve as her stage name, La Môme Piaf.
During World War II, she frequently attended the social gatherings of German forces in occupied France, and many people considered her a traitor; after the war, she claims to have worked for the French Resistance. Although there is no proof of this, it seems true that she was instrumental in helping a number of people (including at least one Jew) to escape Nazi persecution.
It was in Bruno Coquatrix's famous Olympia music hall in Paris that she achieved lasting fame, giving several series of concerts in this hall, the most famous in Paris, between January 1955 and October 1962. Excerpts from five of these concerts (1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962) have been released on record and CD and have never been out of print.
The love of Piaf's life, married boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in a plane crash in October 1949, while traveling from Paris to New York to meet her. Marcel Cerdan's Air France flight, flown aboard a Lockheed Constellation, crashed in the Azores, killing all passengers, including famous violinist Ginette Neveu. Piaf and Cerdan's affair made international headlines, as Cerdan was the former world middleweight champion and a legend in France in his own right. _cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905 -5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905- 5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde- 3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905 -5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5 cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b -136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde -3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ 22, rue de la Py
Piaf died of liver cancer at the age of 47 in her villa in Plascassier (Grasse), on the Côte d'Azur, on October 11, 1963. She had lost consciousness for several months. His last words were: "Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for it". Sarapo is said to have taken her body back to Paris in secret so fans would think she died in her hometown.
Although the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris refused him a funeral mass because of his way of life, his funeral procession drew tens of thousands of people to the streets of Paris and the ceremony at the cemetery was attended by more than 100,000 fans. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time since the end of the Second World War when he saw Parisian traffic come to a complete stop.
Piaf's work and name can still be found today in popular culture and music. Many Piaf songs are used in films and other media. Films such as Saving Private Ryan, Inception, Bull Durham, La Haine, The Dreamers and the animated film Madagascar 3 all feature songs by Piaf. Love Me If You Dare pays homage to their song La Vie En Rose by including different versions of the song in their soundtrack.