28 Facts About Marguerite Monnot

Marguerite Monnot, was a French songwriter and composer best known for having written many of the songs performed by Edith Piaf and the music for the stage musical Irma La Douce.

Marguerite Monnot was classically trained by her father and at the Paris Conservatory.

Marguerite Monnot worked with lyricists such as Raymond Asso, Henri Contet, Georges Moustaki, and collaborated with musicians and writers including Charles Aznavour, Yves Montand, Boris Vian, and Marlene Dietrich, who gathered in Piaf's living room regularly to play and sing.

Marguerite Monnot was born in Decize, Nievre, a small city on the river Loire.

Marguerite Monnot's father, Gabriel Monnot, who had lost his sight at the age of three, was a musician and composer of religious music.

Marguerite Monnot was the organist at the Saint-Are church in Decize and gave piano and harmonium lessons.

Marguerite Monnot's mother, Marie, gave music lessons and was a teacher of French literature and a writer.

Marguerite Monnot rarely attended school; her mother taught her at home and she practiced piano several hours a day.

Marguerite Monnot had lessons from Vincent d'Indy in harmony and fugue, studied piano with Alfred Cortot, and learned harmony from Nadia Boulanger.

Marguerite Monnot toured the capitals of Europe when she was sixteen, and accompanied the dancer Vincente Escuderro in Madrid.

Marguerite Monnot was offered the opportunity to become an official musician at the Spanish royal court, but her parents sent her back to Paris instead for further study.

Marguerite Monnot became noticeably shy when she had to show Piaf a new song, even after years of collaboration.

Marguerite Monnot persevered, and in 1935, the song "L'Etranger" was born out of her collaboration with the journalist-lyricist Robert Malleron and the accordionist-composer Robert Juel, who co-authored the music.

Lajon apparently accepted the apology and introduced Piaf to its composer, Marguerite Monnot, who had accompanied her to the nightclub.

Marguerite Monnot was a former Foreign Legionnaire, and he cut a romantic and exotic figure with his cape and boots.

The first of Asso's songs for which Marguerite Monnot wrote the music was "Mon legionnaire".

Marguerite Monnot refers to her pride in having collaborated with Monnot.

Piaf paid tribute to Marguerite Monnot for encouraging her interest in classical music and in learning to play the piano.

Meanwhile, Marguerite Monnot remained in Paris, making occasional trips home to Decize to see her mother and bring provisions from the countryside back to Paris.

On 11 July 1950, Marguerite Monnot married the singer Etienne Giannesini, whose stage name was Paul Peri.

Marguerite Monnot continued to write for Piaf with another songwriter, Rene Rouzaud, who had already composed for Damia, Georges Guetary, and Lys Gauty.

Shortly after the success of Irma, Disney Studios reportedly asked Marguerite Monnot to come to Hollywood and compose for American films, but she refused to leave her settled life in France.

Marguerite Monnot composed the music for Mephisto and Le sentier de la guerre, written by Claude Nougaro.

Marguerite Monnot's songs were sung by singers such as, Damia, Josephine Baker, Suzy Solidor, and Yves Montand.

Marguerite Monnot became ill with symptoms of appendicitis during her last year of life, 1961.

Marguerite Monnot seems to have had a premonition that her illness was life-threatening, yet she failed to follow medical advice and have the operation.

On 12 October 1961, at the age of 58, Marguerite Monnot died in a Paris hospital from a ruptured appendix and the resulting peritonitis.

Marguerite Monnot was buried with her father and mother in the cemetery of her hometown.