Georges Brassens

Georges Brassens was a French singer-songwriter and poet who achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and articulate, diverse lyrics. He is considered one of France's most accomplished postwar poets. He has also set to music poems by both well-known and relatively obscure poets, such as Louis Aragon, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, François Villon, and Antoine Pol. He received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the Académie française in 1967. Brassens was born in Sète, a commune in the Hérault department of the Occitanie region, to a French father and an Italian mother. He grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother Elvira, father Jean-Louis, half-sister Simone, and paternal grandparents Jules and Marguerite. His mother was a devout Catholic and his father was a free-thinker and an anticlerical. Both of them had a love for music and singing. Brassens started his education at a Catholic school run by the Sisters of Saint Vincent, but he soon rebelled against the strict discipline and religious indoctrination. He later attended the Lycée Paul Valéry, where he excelled in literature and poetry. During World War II, he was forced by the Germans to work in a labor camp at a BMW aircraft engine plant in Basdorf near Berlin in Germany. There he met some of his future friends, such as Pierre Onténiente, whom he called Gibraltar because he was "steady as a rock". They later became close friends. After being given ten days' sick leave in France, he decided not to return to the labor camp. Brassens took refuge in a cul-de-sac called Impasse Florimont in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, where he lived for several years with its owner Jeanne Planche, a friend of his aunt. Planche lived with her husband Marcel in relative poverty: without gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, but ended up staying for 22 years. Planche was the inspiration for Brassens's song Jeanne. Brassens wrote and sang more than 200 songs, most of them tinged with black humor and often anarchist-minded. He recorded 14 albums from 1952 to 1976 that include several popular French songs such as Les copains d'abord, Chanson pour l'Auvergnat, La mauvaise réputation, and Mourir pour des idées. He also performed regularly in concerts and on television. He was admired by many fans and fellow artists for his originality, honesty, and simplicity. He was also known for his generosity and kindness towards his friends and strangers. Brassens suffered from health problems for many years, especially kidney stones and intestinal cancer. He died of cancer in 1981 in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, near Montpellier. He was buried at the Cimetière Le Py in Sète, next to his family members. His grave is marked by a simple tombstone with his name and dates. His songs and poems have been translated into many languages and have influenced many singers and writers around the world.