Édith Piaf

**Édith Piaf** (aka. "La Môme Piaf") (December 19, 1915 – October 11, 1963) was one of France's most-loved singers. Her real name was **Édith Giovanna Gassion**. She became a national icon. Her music was an image of her tragic life. Piaf was known for singing ballads in a heartbreaking voice.

## Life and career

As child at her grandmother's  in Normandy, she suffered from keratitis, but
**1925** - 10  A pilgrimage to Lisieux in the Normandy honoring  Saint Thérèse of Lisieux / (Sainte Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus),  and the intense devoutness of the family resulted in a miraculous healing, Édith said.

**1930** – 15  Her manager gave her the stage name "", "la Môme", Édith Piaf, or just **Piaf**. She was only  tall and puny, but sharp and lively like a sparrow. She always wore a black dress on the stage.

She sang first in Pigalle, then in _Le Gerny_,  the nightclub of  Louis Leplée near the Champs-Élysées.
She met Raymond Asso (1901-1968) and Marguerite Monnot (1903-1961), who wrote and composed her best songs; she stroke up an acquaintance with actor and singer Maurice Chevalier.

**1948** – 32  The love of Piaf's life, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, middleweight champion of the world, died in a plane crash in October 1949, in the Azores, while flying from Paris to New York City to meet her.

**1952** – 36  Piaf married Jacques Pills in 1952 (her matron of honour was Marlene Dietrich). She divorced him in 1956. In 1962, she wed Théo Sarapo (Theophanis Lamboukas), a Greek hairdresser who was 20 years her junior.

She suffered from different illnesses  during her life, especially after several car crashes.

**1963** – 47  Piaf died of liver cancer at Plascassier, near Grasse (Département Alpes-Maritimes), on 10 October 1963.

Among her most famous songs are "_Mon légionnaire_" (1936), "_Le fanion de la Légion_" (1936), "_La vie en rose_" (1946), "_Hymne à l'amour_" (1949), "_Padam... Padam..._" (1951), "_l'Accordéoniste_" (1955), "_Les amants d'un jour_" (1956),"_La foule_" (1957), "_Milord_" (1959) and "_Non, je ne regrette rien_" (1960).

Although she was denied a solemn funeral mass, her funeral procession from her residence, Boulevard Lannes (Paris, XVI arr.) drew tens of thousands  of mourners onto the streets of Paris, that caused a huge traffic jam. The ceremony at the cemetery‚ Le Père-Lachaise (Paris, XX arr.), was attended by more than 100,000 fans.

Albums: Chansons Parisiennes (1949)Chansons des Cafés de Paris (1950)Edith Piaf (1953)Le Tour de Chant d'Édith Piaf a l'Olympia - No. 1 (1955)Le Tour de Chant d'Édith Piaf a l'Olympia - No. 2 (1956)Le Tour de Chant d'Édith Piaf a l'Olympia - No. 3 (1958)Récital 1961Récital 1962

## References

- Huey, Steve. _Edith Piaf: Biography_. Yahoo! Music.

## Other websites

- Edith Piaf

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Édith Piaf
- **image**: Edith Piaf.jpg
- **background**: solo_singer
- **birth name**: Édith Giovanna Gassion
- **alias**: La Môme Piaf
(<small>_The Little Sparrow_</small>)
- **birth place**: Belleville, Paris, Belleville, Paris, French Third Republic, France
- **death place**: Placassier, Alpes-Maritimes, France
- **instrument**: Voice
- **genre**: Cabaret
Torch songs
Chanson#Modern chanson, Chanson
- **occupation**: Singer, songwriter, actress
- **years active**: 1935–1963
- **label**: Pathé Records, Pathé-Marconi