Georges Brassens

French singer, composer and poet who gained notoriety for his poetry, publishing his first collection "Des coups d'épées dans l'eau" in 1942. His first recording, "Le gorille," did not follow for another ten years. Although he emerged as both a hugely popular entertainer as well as an acclaimed artist - he was awarded the French National Poetry Prize - he only performed outside of France a handful of times, and as a result remained little-known outside of his homeland despite a constant flow of international reissues.

He was born to a French mason father and a mother of Italian descent. Being on bad terms with his father because he refused to succeed him as a mason, he left Southern France in his youth and lived at his aunt's home in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris, and then in the 15th (where a park named "Georges Bransens" is located near his last home).

He was born nine days after the Italian-French actor and singer Yves Montand. Brassens remained single and had no children.

He died of cancer at 11:15 PM on 29 October 1981 in Saint-Gely-du-Fesc, France.