英語名人堂：伊迪絲·琵雅芙

伊迪絲·琵雅芙(Edith Piaf，1915年12月19日——1963年10月11日)，是法國最著名也是最受愛戴的女歌手之一。

她的作品多是其悲劇一生的寫照，最著名的歌曲包括《玫瑰人生》(La Vie en Rose，1945年)《愛的禮贊》(Hymne à L'Amour，1949年)，《我的老爺》(Milord，1959年)和《我無怨無悔》(Non, je ne regrette rien，1960年)。

中年以后，琵雅芙因為車禍，染上注射嗎啡來止痛和酗酒。1963年10月11日，琵雅芙因肝癌死于格拉斯，終年48歲。

法蘭西共和國為她舉行了國葬，使她成為國家的標志。

法國人親切地稱伊迪絲·琵雅芙為“小姑娘”(La Môme)，2007年上映的電影《玫瑰人生》(La Vie en Rose)則反映了她悲劇而傳奇的一生。[1]

Edith Piaf (1915-1963) was a French singer and one of her country’s best-known cultural icons. She is probably France’s greatest ever singer and sang classics such as ‘La vie en rose’. She was so popular that 100,000 people attended her funeral in Paris and traffic came to a standstill. There is a museum in Paris dedicated to her memory.

She was born Edith Gassion in a poor suburb of Paris. Piaf’s parents abandoned her when she was a child and she lived with her grandmother. When she was 14, she teamed up with her acrobat father. She toured France with him and sang in public for the first time. Aged 16, she went her own way and became a street singer.

In 1935, Piaf was discovered by a nightclub owner, who asked her to sing in his club. He gave her the nickname Little Sparrow because she was so small. She was an instant success and began to mix with the rich and famous of Paris. During World War II, she frequently performed for German officers and many considered her a traitor.

Piaf became famous worldwide after the war. However, her personal life hit many low points. Her lover died in a plane crash in 1949 and in the 1950s she had three near-fatal car crashes and became addicted to morphine and alcohol. In 1961, she recorded her famous song "Non, je ne regrette rien". It was one of the last songs she sang.