21 Facts About Georges Brassens

Georges Charles Brassens was a French singer-songwriter and poet.

Georges Brassens is considered one of France's most accomplished postwar poets.

Georges Brassens has set to music poems by both well-known and relatively obscure poets, including Louis Aragon, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, Jean Richepin, Francois Villon, and Antoine Pol.

Georges Brassens took refuge in a small cul-de-sac called "Impasse Florimont," in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, a popular district, where he lived for several years with its owner, Jeanne Planche, a friend of his aunt.

Georges Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, but ended up staying for 22 years.

Georges Brassens wrote and sang, with his guitar, more than a hundred of his poems.

Georges Brassens was born in Sete, a commune in the Herault department of the Occitanie region, to a French father and an Italian mother from the town of Marsico Nuovo.

Georges Brassens grew up in the family home in Sete with his mother, Elvira Dagrosa, father, Jean-Louis, half-sister, Simone, and paternal grandfather, Jules.

In March 1943, Georges Brassens was requisitioned for the STO forced labour organisation in Germany.

Georges Brassens found time to write Bonhomme and Pauvre Martin, along with more than a hundred other songs, that were later either burned or frequently altered before they reached their final form.

Georges Brassens wrote the beginning of his first novel, Lalie Kakamou.

Once put up at Jeanne Planche's, Georges Brassens had to stay hidden for five months, waiting for the war to come to an end.

Georges Brassens composed using as his only instrument a small piece of furniture that he called "my drum" on which he beat out the rhythm.

Georges Brassens resumed writing the novel he started in Basdorf, for only now did he consider a career as a famous novelist.

The end of the war meant the homecoming of the friends from Basdorf, with whom Georges Brassens planned to create an anarchist-minded paper, Le Cri des Gueux, which stopped after the first edition due to a lack of money.

Georges Brassens said in an interview: "An anarchist is a man who scrupulously crosses at the zebra crossing, because he hates to argue with the agents".

Georges Brassens was shy and had difficulty performing in front of people.

Georges Brassens's songs have been translated into 20 languages, including Esperanto.

Georges Brassens translated among others the poem "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux" of the French contemporary poet Louis Aragon.

Georges Brassens composed about 250 songs, of which 200 were recorded, the other 50 remaining unfinished.

Georges Brassens's songs have a major influence on many French singers across several generations, including Maxime Le Forestier, Renaud, Benabar and others.