This legendary French singer left the stage early, never did any advertising for himself, he was almost never covered in the media, and yet, despite all this, Jean Ferrat enjoys immense popularity, remaining one of the most beloved singers in France. "The last of the greats is gone …", they said about him after his death in 2010.
At the beginning of the path
On December 26, 1930, Jean Tenenbaum, the future Jean Ferrat, was born in the vicinity of Paris. He was the youngest in a large family of a jeweler, a Russian Jew, a native of Yekaterinodar, who immigrated to France in 1905. His mother was French, a flower girl by profession.
In 1935 the family moved to Versailles. Jean studies at the Jules Ferry College, but when the Nazis occupy France, Jean's father is sent to Germany, where he dies, and the boy has to leave the Lyceum and go to work to help the family. Along the way, he independently studies chemistry, but soon his passion for music and theater comes to the fore for him.
Career and creativity
In his twenties, Jean enters a theater troupe, becomes a regular at a cabaret, gets a job as a guitarist in a jazz band. It was during these years that he began to compose his first songs. In 1956 he puts to music Aragon's poem "The Eyes of Elsa". Subsequently, he will use the poems of his beloved poet many times in his work. Jean records his first disc in 1958, but it does not have much success, and only in 1960, when the singer signs a contract with Decca Records, a song called "Ma Môme" becomes the main hit on the French air. A year later, Jean released a large album, which was greeted with enthusiasm by the public.
In the first half of the 60s, the singer released 5 albums at once, including the infamous Nuit et brouillard (1963). The radio stations were strongly advised not to broadcast songs from this disc, in other words, they were forbidden, since the French government of that time preferred to gloss over the controversial issue of the deportation of Jews during World War II. Nevertheless, "Nuit et brouillard" won the Grand Prix of the Charles Cros Academy.
In 1967, Ferrat went on a tour to Cuba, and this trip has not only creative, but also socio-political overtones (the singer never hid his communist convictions and fought for the interests of the working class all his life). It is during this trip that he lets go of his famous mustache.
This is followed by tours around the world, at the same time the singer is working on new records, including the famous album "Ferrat chante Aragon", which has sold a million copies.
And in 1973, Ferrat suddenly decides not to give more concerts, explaining that the stage has turned into an industry, and concerts no longer bring him any joy.
Ferrat settled in the village of Antragues-sur-Volan, and from then on his voluntary seclusion began. He breaks it only in special cases, continuing to release albums from time to time. Nevertheless, these discs go into the category of gold and platinum.
In 1981, he received the Diamond Disc of the Year for Collectively.
In 1990 the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Editors awards him the Gold Medal.
Personal life
The singer never put his personal life on display. It was known that in 1958 he met a young singer Cristina Sevres, who sang some of his songs. They became friends, and after three years they became husband and wife, after which they lived together for twenty years. After her death in 1981, Jean Ferrat hid from the public for a long time, grieving at the loss.
