Edith Piaf was born 100 years ago
Edith Piaf was born 100 years ago
Magyar Posta is issuing a commemorative stamp to mark the centenary of the birth of the French chanteuse, songwriter and actress Edith Piaf. The stamp shows the celebrated singer’s portrait. Fifty thousand copies of the miniature sheet containing four identical stamps designed by the graphic artist Glória Hefelle were produced by the Pénzjegynyomda printing company. The new issue will be available at large post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 8 May, but may also be purchased from Magyar Posta’s webshop.
Edith Piaf, born Edith Giovanna Gassion, (1915–1963) was brought up by her father,
who was a street acrobat performer. As she had a weak build, she sang instead
of doing acrobatics to earn money with her father. In 1919 she lost her sight
as a result of keratitis, which she only recovered at the age of seven. She was
17 years old when she gave birth to a child, who died of meningitis not long
afterwards. Her talent was recognised while singing on the street. Louis
Leplée, the owner and director of the nightclub Le Gerny, launched her career. He gave her the stage name Piaf, which means sparrow in French slang. She first sang on stage in 1935. In 1936
Leplée was murdered and the ensuing scandal could have caused her to return to
the streets had not the poet Raymond Asso taken her under his wing. He taught
her for three years, wrote chansons for her and managed to arrange her first
performance in a revue theatre. It was Asso who introduced Piaf to Marguerite
Monnot, who wrote evergreens such as “Milord”. In 1940 Piaf met Jean Cocteau,
who wrote a play, Le Bel Indifférent,
for her. In 1941 she was given a role in a film. During the German occupation
of Paris she sang regularly for the troops, and organised a gala evening to
help the children of prisoners of war. Piaf also helped her Jewish colleagues
who lost their jobs or were threatened by deportation. She first appeared on
stage in New York in 1947. This was when she met the love of her life, the
world boxing champion Marcel Cerdan, who died two years later in a plane crash.
As a result, Piaf became an alcoholic, which she remained until the end of her
life. In 1952 she married the singer Jacques Pills. Their honeymoon was a giant
tour of the United States. They got divorced four years later. By the mid 1950s
Piaf's health had deteriorated but she paid no heed to her doctors’ warnings
and repeatedly appeared on stage. On some occasions she collapsed during her
performance. She was diagnosed with incurable cancer. On 9 October 1962,
seriously ill, she married the singer Théo Sarapo, with whom she scored a hit
with the song “À Quoi Ça Sert L'Amour?”. In August 1963 she withdrew to her
villa in Plascassier, where she spent the last months of her life under
constant care and died on 10 October. She was laid to rest in the Père-Lachaise
cemetery in Paris.
(Source: wikipedia.hu)
Order code: 2015140010011 (stamp), 2015140060012
(stamp FDC), 2015141040011 (miniature sheet), 2015141060012 (miniature sheet
FDC)
Date of issue: 8 May 2015
Face value: HUF 325 (On the date of issue, the
HUF 325 stamp pays the postage of a priority postcard or standard letter to
Europe.)
Number of copies: 50,000
miniature sheets
Perforation size: 30 x 40
mm Imperforate size of the
miniature sheet: 154 x 74 mm
Printing method: offset Printed by Pénzjegynyomda Zrt.
Photograph by © Maurice
Seymour/Cultiris/Lebrecht Music & Arts Designed by Glória Hefelle
