in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea from an edition with drawings by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou.]] Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.

History

Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods, may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life." Though disputed, evidence suggests that the Neanderthals were the first hominids to intentionally bury the dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone tools and animal bones. Exemplary sites include Shanidar in Iraq, Kebara Cave in Israel and Krapina in Croatia. Some scholars, however argue that these bodies may have been disposed of for secular reasons.

The earliest undisputed human burial dates back 130,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained with red ochre were discovered in the Skhul cave at Qafzeh, Israel. A variety of grave goods were present at the site, including the mandible of a wild boar in the arms of one of the skeletons.

Prehistoric cemeteries are referred to by the more neutral term grave field. They are one of the chief sources of information on prehistoric cultures, and numerous archaeological cultures are defined by their burial customs, such as the Urnfield culture of the European Bronze Age.

Reasons for human burial

After death, a body will decay. Burial is not necessarily a public health requirement. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the WHO advises that only corpses carrying an infectious disease strictly require burial.

Human burial practices are the manifestation of the human desire to demonstrate "respect for the dead", and to prevent the possibilities of revenants [ghosts] harming the living. Cultures vary in their mode of respect.

Among the reasons for this are:

Respect for the physical remains. If left lying on top of the ground, scavengers may eat the corpse, considered disrespectful to the deceased in many (but not all) cultures. In Tibet, Sky burials return the remains to the cycle of life and acknowledge the body as "food," a core tenet of some Buddhist practices.

Burial can be seen as an attempt to bring closure to the deceased's family and friends. Psychologists in some Western Judeo-Christian quarters, as well as the US funeral industry, claim that by interring a body away from plain view, the pain of losing a loved one can be lessened.

Many cultures believe in an afterlife. Burial is sometimes believed to be a necessary step for an individual to reach the afterlife.

Many religions prescribe a particular way to live, which includes customs relating to disposal of the dead.

A decomposing body releases an unpleasant smell, so burial is a way of preventing that smell from reaching the open air.

Burial methods

In many cultures, human corpses were usually buried in soil. The act of burying corpses is thought to have begun around 200,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period by Homo sapiens, before spreading out from Africa. As a result, burial grounds are found throughout the world. Mounds of earth, temples, and underground caverns were used to store the dead bodies of ancestors. In modern times, the custom of burying dead people below ground with a stone marker to mark the place is used in almost every modern culture, although other means such as cremation are becoming more popular in the west (cremation is the norm in India and mandatory in Japan).

Some burial practices are heavily ritualized; others are simply practical.

Natural burial

While seen as a new trend in modern burial, natural burial, the process by which a body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally in soil, has been practiced in Islam for almost 1500 years. Natural burial became popularized in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s by Ken West, a professional cemeterian for the City of Carlisle responding to the U.K's call for changes in government that aligned with the United Nations' Environmental Program Local Agenda 21. The practice is gaining ground rapidly and has now expanded to Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, North America, China and Japan.

Prevention of decay

body in the British Museum.]] Embalming is the practice of preserving a body against decay, and is used in many cultures. Mummification is a more extensive method of embalming, further delaying the decay process.

Bodies are often buried wrapped in a shroud or placed in a coffin (also called a casket). A larger container may be used, such as a ship. In the United States, coffins are usually covered by a burial liner or a burial vault, which prevents the coffin from collapsing under the weight of the earth or floating away during a flood.

These containers slow the decomposition process by (partially) physically blocking decomposing bacteria and other organisms from accessing the corpse. An additional benefit of using containers to hold the body is that if the soil covering the corpse is washed away by a flood or some other natural process, the corpse will still not be exposed to open air.

Inclusion of clothing and personal effects

The body may be dressed in fancy and/or ceremonial clothes. Personal objects, such as a favorite piece of jewelry or photograph, of the deceased may be included with the body. This practice, also known as the inclusion of grave goods, serves several purposes:

In funeral services, the body is often put on display. Many cultures feel that the deceased should be presented looking his/her finest.

The inclusion of ceremonial garb and sacred objects is sometimes viewed as necessary for reaching the afterlife.

The inclusion of personal effects may be motivated by the beliefs that in the afterlife a person will wish to have with them what was important to them on earth. Alternatively, in some cultures it is felt that when a person dies, their possessions (and sometimes people connected to them such as wives) should go with them out of loyalty or ownership.

Though not generally a motivation for the inclusion of grave goods with a corpse, it is worth considering that future archaeologists may find the remains (compare time capsule). Artifacts such as clothing and objects provide insight into how the individual lived. This provides a form of immortality for the deceased.

Body positioning

Burials may be placed in a number of different positions. Christian burials are made extended, i.e., lying flat with arms and legs straight, or with the arms folded upon the chest, and with the eyes and mouth closed. Extended burials may be supine (lying on the back) or prone (lying on the front). However, in some cultures, being buried face down shows marked disrespect. Other ritual practices place the body in a flexed position with the legs bent or crouched with the legs folded up to the chest. Warriors in some ancient societies were buried in an upright position. In Islam, the head is pointed toward and the face is turned toward Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. Many cultures treat placement of dead people in an appropriate position to be a sign of respect even when burial is impossible.

In nonstandard burial practices, such as mass burial, the body may be positioned arbitrarily. This can be a sign of disrespect to the deceased, or at least nonchalance on the part of the inhumer, or due to considerations of time and space.

Orientation

Historically, Christian burials were made supine east-west, with the head at the western end of the grave. This mirrors the layout of Christian churches, and for much the same reason; to view the coming of Christ on Judgment day (Eschaton). In many Christian traditions, ordained clergy are traditionally buried in the opposite orientation, and their coffins carried likewise, so that at the General Resurrection they may rise facing, and ready to minister to, their people.

Inverted burial

For humans, maintaining an upside down position, with the head vertically below the feet, is highly uncomfortable for any extended period of time, and consequently burial in that attitude (as opposed to attitudes of rest or watchfulness, as above) is highly unusual and generally symbolic. Occasionally suicides and assassins were buried upside down, as a post-mortem punishment and (as with burial at cross-roads) to inhibit the activities of the resulting undead.

In Gulliver's Travels, the Lilliputians buried their dead upside down:

Swift's notion of inverted burial might seem the highest flight of fancy, but it appears that among English millenarians the idea that the world would be "turned upside down" at the Apocalypse enjoyed some currency. There is at least one attested case of a person being buried upside down by instruction; a Major Peter Labelliere of Dorking (d. June 4, 1800) lies thus upon the summit of Box Hill. Similar stories have attached themselves to other noted eccentrics, particularly in southern England, but not always with a foundation in truth.

Burial among African-American slaves

In the African-American slave community, slaves quickly familiarized themselves with funeral procedures and the location of gravesites of family and friends. Specific slaves were assigned to prepare dead bodies, build coffins, dig graves, and construct headstones. Slave funerals were typically at night when the workday was over, with the master present to view all the ceremonial procedures. Slaves from nearby plantations were regularly in attendance.

At death, a slave’s body was wrapped in cloth. The hands were placed across the chest, and a metal plate was placed on top of their hands. The reasoning for the plate was to hinder their return home by suppressing any spirits in the coffin. Often, personal property was buried with slaves to appease spirits. The coffins were nailed shut once the body was inside, and carried by hand or wagon, depending on the property designated for slave burial site. Slaves were buried east to west, with the head facing east and their feet to the west. This positioning represented the ability to rise without having to turn around at the call of Gabriel’s trumpet. Gabriel’s trumpet would be blown in the eastern sunrise. East-west positioning also was the direction of home, Africa.

Burial in the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'í burial law prescribes both the location of burial and burial practices and precludes cremation of the dead. It is forbidden to carry the body for more than one hour's journey from the place of death. Before interment the body should be wrapped in a shroud of silk or cotton, and a ring should be placed on its finger bearing the inscription "I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate". The coffin should be of crystal, stone or hard fine wood. Also, before interment, a specific Prayer for the Dead is ordained. The body should be placed with the feet facing the Qiblih. The formal prayer and the ring are meant to be used for those who have reached fifteen years of age.

Locations

Where to bury

Apart from sanitary and other practical considerations, the site of burial can be determined by religious and socio-cultural considerations.

Thus in some traditions, especially with an animistic logic, the remains of the dead are "banished" for fear their spirits would harm the living if too close; others keep remains close to help surviving generations.

Religious rules may prescribe a specific zone, e.g. some Christian traditions hold that Christians must be buried in "consecrated ground", usually a cemetery; an earlier practice, burial in or very near the church (hence the word churchyard), was generally abandoned with individual exceptions as a high posthumous honour; also many existing funeral monuments and crypts remain in use.

Royalty and high nobility often have one or more "traditional" sites of burial, generally monumental, often in a palatial chapel or cathedral; see examples on Heraldica.org.

In North America, private family cemeteries were common among wealthy landowners during the 18th and 19th centuries. Many prominent people were buried in private cemeteries on their respective properties, sometimes in lead-lined coffins. Many of these family cemeteries were not documented and were therefore lost to time and abandon; their grave markers having long since been pilfered by vandals or covered by forest growth. Their locations are occasionally discovered during construction projects.

Marking the location of the burial

Most modern cultures mark the location of the body with a headstone. This serves two purposes. First, the grave will not accidentally be exhumed. Second, headstones often contain information or tributes to deceased. This is a form of remembrance for loved ones; it can also be viewed as a form of immortality, especially in cases of famous people's graves. Such monumental inscriptions may subsequently be useful to genealogists and family historians.

In many cultures graves will be grouped, so the monuments make up a necropolis, a "city of the dead" parallelling the community of the living.

Unmarked grave

In many cultures graves are marked with durable markers, or monuments, intended to help remind people of the buried person. An unmarked grave is a grave with no such memorial marker.

The corpse of Pope Formosus was actually disinterred, placed on trial (see Cadaver Synod), found guilty, and ultimately thrown into the River Tiber.

Anonymous burial

Another sort of unmarked grave is a burial site with an anonymous marker, such as a simple cross; boots, rifle and helmet; a sword and shield; a cairn of stones; or even a monument. This may occur when identification of the deceased is impossible. Although many unidentified deceased are buried in potter's fields, some are memorialized, especially in smaller communities or in the case of deaths publicized by local media.

Many countries have buried an unidentified soldier (or other member of the military) in a prominent location as a form of respect for all unidentified war dead. The United Kingdom's Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is in Westminster Abbey, France's is buried underneath the Arc de Triomphe, Italy's is buried in the Monumento al Milite Ignoto in Rome, Canada's is buried at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Australia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, New Zealand's Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is in Wellington and the United States' Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at Arlington National Cemetery.

Many cultures practise anonymous burial as a norm, not an exception. For instance, in parts of eastern Germany, up to 43% of burials are anonymous. According to Christian Century magazine, the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church is that anonymous burials reflect a dwindling belief in God, but others claim that the practice relates more to the exorbitant cost of grave markers and the solitary nature of German life.

Secret burial

In rare cases, a known person may be buried without identification, perhaps to avoid desecration of the corpse, grave robbing, or vandalism of the burial site. This may be particularly the case with infamous or notorious figures. In other cases, it may be to prevent the grave from becoming a tourist attractions or a destination of pilgrimage. Survivors may cause the deceased to be buried in a secret location or other unpublished place, or in a grave with a false name (or no name at all) on the marker.

When Walt Disney was cremated his ashes were buried in a secret location in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, California. Some burial sites at Forest Lawn, such as those of Humphrey Bogart, Mary Pickford and Michael Jackson are secluded in private gated gardens or mausoleums with no public access. A number of tombs are also kept from the public eye. Forest Lawn's Court of Honour indicates that some of its crypts have plots which are reserved for individuals who may be "voted in" as "Immortals"; no amount of money can purchase a place. Photographs taken at Forest Lawn are not permitted to be published, and their information office usually refuses to reveal exactly where the remains of famous people are buried. Although the cemetery's owners state that this is meant to deter gravesite tourism, some critics say that the cemetery wishes visitors to purchase memorabilia at the funeral home's numerous gift shops instead of taking photographs for free, especially in the case of grave markers notable for their beauty.

Multiple bodies per grave

Some couples or groups of people (such as a married couple or other family members) may wish to be buried in the same plot. In some cases, the coffins (or urns) may simply be buried side by side. In others, one casket may be interred above another. If this is planned for in advance, the first casket may be buried more deeply than is the usual practice so that the second casket may be placed over it without disturbing the first. In many states in Australia all graves are designated two or three depth (depending of the water table) for multiple burials, at the discretion of the burial rights holder, with each new interment atop the previous coffin separated by a thin layer of earth. As such all graves are dug to greater depth for the initial burial than the traditional six feet to facilitate this practice.

Mass burial is the practice of burying multiple bodies in one location. Civilizations attempting genocide often employ mass burial for victims. However, mass burial may in many cases be the only practical means of dealing with an overwhelming number of human remains, such as those resulting from a natural disaster, an act of terrorism, an epidemic, or an accident. This practice has become less common in the developed world with the advent of genetic testing, but even in the 21st century remains which are unidentifiable by current methods may be buried in a mass grave.

Individuals who are buried at the expense of the local authorities and buried in potter's fields may be buried in mass graves. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was once believed to have been buried in such a manner, but today it is known that such burials were never allowed in Mozart's Vienna whose Magistrate refused to agree to the burial regulations decreed by Joseph II. In some cases, the remains of unidentified individuals may be buried in mass graves in potter's fields, making exhumation and future identification troublesome for law enforcement.

Naval ships sunk in combat are also considered mass graves by many countries. For example, U.S. Navy policy declares such wrecks a mass grave and forbids the recovery of remains. In lieu of recovery, divers or submersibles may leave a plaque dedicated to the memory of the ship or boat and its crew, and family members are invited to attend the ceremony.

Sites of large former battlefields may also contain one or more mass graves. Douaumont ossuary is one such mass grave, and it contains the remains of 130,000 soldiers from both sides of the battle of Verdun.

Catacombs also constitute a form of mass grave. Some catacombs, for example those in Rome, were designated as a communal burial place. Some, such as the catacombs of Paris, only became a mass grave when individual burials were relocated from cemeteries marked for demolition.

Judaism does not generally allow multiple bodies in a grave. An exception to this is a grave in the military cemetery in Jerusalem, where there is a "kever ah-chim" (Heb. "grave of brothers") where two soldiers were killed together in a tank and are buried in one grave. As the bodies were so fused together with the metal of the tank that they could not be separately identified, they were buried in one grave (along with parts of the tank).

Cremation

. A cremation service has just finished.]] There are several common alternatives to burial. In cremation the body of the deceased is burned in a special oven. Most of the body is burnt during the cremation process, leaving only a few pounds of bone fragments. Bodies of small children and infants often produce very little in the way of "ashes", as ashes are composed of bone, and young people have softer bones, largely cartilage. Often these fragments are processed (ground) into a fine powder, which has led to cremated remains being called ashes. In recent times, cremation has become a popular option in the western world.

There is far greater flexibility in dealing with the remains in cremation as opposed to the traditional burial. Some of the options include scattering the ashes at a place close to the heart of the deceased or keeping the ashes at home. Ashes can also be buried underground or in a columbarium niche.

Live burial

Live burial sometimes occurs, in which individuals are buried while still alive. Having no way of escaping interment, they die in place, typically by asphyxiation, dehydration, starvation, or (in cold or hot climates) exposure. People may come to be buried alive in a number of different ways: An individual may be intentionally buried alive as a method of execution or murder. In ancient Rome, Vestal Virgins who broke their vows were punished in this way.

A person or group of people in a cave, mine, or other underground area may be sealed underground due to an earthquake, cave in, or other natural disaster or accident. Live burial may also occur due to avalanches on mountain slopes.

People have been unintentionally buried alive because they were pronounced dead by a coroner or other official, when they were in fact still alive.

Writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote a number of stories and poems about premature burial, including a story called "The Premature Burial." These works inspired a widespread popular fear of this appalling but unlikely event. Various expedients have been devised to prevent this event, including burying live telephones or telemetry sensors in graves.

Burial at cross-roads

Historically, burial at cross-roads was the method of disposing of executed criminals and persons who have committed suicide. Cross-roads form a crude cross shape and this may have given rise to the belief that these spots were selected as the next best burying-places to consecrated ground. Another possible explanation is that the ancient Teutonic (Germanic) ethnic groups often built their altars at the cross-roads, and since human sacrifices, especially of criminals, formed part of the ritual, these spots came to be regarded as execution grounds. Hence after the introduction of Christianity, criminals and suicides were buried at the cross-roads during the night, in order to assimilate as far as possible their funeral to that of the pagans. An example of a cross-road execution-ground was the famous Tyburn in London, which stood on the spot where the Roman road to Edgware and beyond met the Roman road heading west out of London.

Superstition also played a part in the selection of cross-roads in the burial of suicides. Folk belief often held such individuals could rise as some form of undead (such as a vampire) and burying them at cross-roads would inhibit their ability to find and wreak havoc on their living relations and former associates.

Burial of animals

By humans

cemetery at Edinburgh Castle]] In addition to burying human remains, many human cultures also regularly bury animal remains.

Pets and other animals of emotional significance are often ceremonially buried. Most families bury deceased pets on their own properties, mainly in a yard, with a shoe box or any other type of container served as a coffin. The Ancient Egyptians are known to have mummified and buried cats, which they considered deities.

By other animals

Humans are not always the only species to bury their dead. Chimpanzees and Elephants are known to throw leaves and branches over fallen members of their family groups. In a particularly odd case, an Elephant which trampled a mother and child, buried its victim under a pile of leaves before disappearing into the bushes.

Exhumation

The digging up of a buried body is called exhumation or disinterment, and is generally considered sacrilege or taboo by most cultures that bury their dead. Exceptions are sometimes allowed:

If an individual dies in suspicious circumstances, the police may request exhumation in order to determine the cause of death.

Deceased individuals who were either not identified or misidentified at the time of burial may be reburied if survivors so wish.

In Southern Chinese culture, graves are opened after a period of years. The bones are removed, cleaned, dried, and placed in a ceramic pot for reburial (in Taiwan), or in a smaller coffin to be taken home by the rest of the family (in Vietnam). The practice is called jiǎngǔ in Taiwan, or boc mo in Vietnam '揀骨 “digging up bones” and is an important ritual in the posthumous “care” of children for their deceased parents and ancestors. Failure to carry out this ritual is considered a failure of filial piety.

Similarly in Hong Kong where real estate is at a premium, burials in government-run cemeteries are disinterred after six years under exhumation order. Remains are either collected privately for cremation or reburied in an urn or niche. Unclaimed burials are exhumed and cremated by the government. Permanent burial in privately run cemeteries is allowed.

Remains may be exhumed in order to be reinterred at a more appropriate location. For example, when the remains of MIA soldiers are discovered, or the case of Nicholas II of Russia and his family, who were exhumed from unmarked graves near Yekaterinburg to be reinterred in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

The remains of the Venerable or the Blessed are sometimes exhumed to ensure their bodies lie in their correctly-marked graves, as their gravesites usually become places for devotees to gather, and also to collect relics. The bodies may also be transferred to a more dignified place. It also serves the purpose to see if they are supernaturally Incorruptible and thus a Saint. Exhumation is no longer a requirement in the beatification process, but still may be carried out.

Remains may be exhumed and reburied en masse when a cemetery is relocated, once local planning and religious requirements are met.

In rare, historical cases (e.g. Pope Formosus or Oliver Cromwell), a body may be exhumed for posthumous execution, dissection, or gibbeting.

Notable individuals may be exhumed to answer historical questions. Many Ancient Egyptian mummies have been removed for study and public display.

Once human remains reach a certain age, some cultures consider exhumation acceptable, especially if this followed by later reburial following traditional rites. This serves several purposes:

Cemeteries sometimes have a limited number of plots in which to bury the dead. Once all plots are full, older remains may be moved to an ossuary to accommodate more bodies, in accordance with burial contracts, religious and local burial laws.

It enables archaeologists to search the remains to better understand human culture.

It enables construction agencies to clear the way for new constructions. One example of this is cemeteries in Chicago next to O'Hare International Airport to expand the runways.

Frequently, cultures have different sets of exhumation taboos. Occasionally these differences result in conflict, especially in cases where a culture with more lenient exhumation rules wishes to operate on the territory of a different culture. For example, United States construction companies have run into conflict with Native American groups that have wanted to preserve their burial grounds from disturbance.

Jewish law forbids the exhumation of a corpse.

In folklore and mythology, exhumation has also been frequently associated with the performance of rites to banish undead manifestations. An example is the Mercy Brown Vampire Incident of Rhode Island, which occurred in 1892. Also See page for Ed Gein. He was a man from plainfield, wisconsin who would exhume bodies of the dead.

Reinterment

Reinterment refers to the reburial of a corpse.

Alternatives to burial

in Kyoto, Japan stands on a site where Japanese people once abandoned the bodies of the dead without burial]]

In most cases these alternatives still intend to maintain respect for the dead, but some intend to prolong the display of the remains.

Burial at sea is the practice of depositing the body in an ocean or other large body of water instead of soil. It may be disposed in a coffin, or without one. Because of the particular logistics of scattering ashes at sea, there are commercial services that do so for a fee.

Funerary cannibalism is the practice of eating the remains. This may be for many reasons: for example to partake of their strength, to spiritually "close the circle" by reabsorbing their life into the family or clan, to annihilate an enemy, or due to pathological mental conditions. The Yanomami have the habit of cremating the remains and then eating the ashes with banana paste.

Cremation is the incineration of the remains. This practice is common amongst Hindus and is becoming increasingly common in other cultures as well. If a family member wishes, the ashes can now be turned into a gem, similar to creating synthetic diamonds.

Ecological funeral is a method of increasing the rate of decomposition in order to help fertilize the soil.

Excarnation is the practice of removing the flesh from the corpse without interment. The Zoroastrians have traditionally left their dead on Towers of Silence, where the flesh of the corpses is left to be devoured by vultures and other carrion-eating birds. Alternatively, it can also mean butchering the corpse by hand to remove the flesh (sometimes referred to by the neologism "defleshing").

Gibbeting was the ancient practice of publicly displaying remains of criminals.

Hanging coffins are coffins which have been placed on cliffs. They can be found in various locations, including China and the Philippines.

Resomation involves disposal through an accelerated process of alkaline hydrolysis.

Sky burial involves placing the body on a mountaintop.

Cryonics is often mistakenly assumed as an alternative interment method. In fact it's a procedure to physically preserve a body. Cryonics supporters hope reviving individuals will be technologically feasible one day. See also information theoretical death; clinical death.

Notes and references

See also

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Burial mound

Cemetery

Coffin

Health risks from dead bodies

Funeral

Grave (burial)

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Green burial

Headstone

Museum of Funeral Customs

Thanatology

Corpse road

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External links

The Sky Burials of Tibet

Category:Death customs Category:Archaeological features

Name	Édith Piaf
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Édith Giovanna Gassion
Alias	La Môme Piaf(The Little Sparrow)
Born	December 19, 1915Belleville, Paris, France
Died	Plascassier, France
Instrument	Voice
Genre	CabaretTorch songsChanson
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active	1935–1963
Label	Pathé Records, Pathé-Marconi

Édith Piaf (, [PEE-ahf, pee-AHF] 19 December 1915 – 11 October 1963), born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are "La Vie en rose" (1946), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "La Foule" (1957), "l'Accordéoniste" (1955), and "Padam... Padam..." (1951).

Early life

Despite numerous biographies, much of Piaf's life is shrouded in mystery. She was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris. Legend has it that she was born on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72, but her birth certificate cites the Hôpital Tenon, the hospital for the 20th arrondissement of which Belleville is part.

She was named Edith after the World War I British nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed for helping French soldiers escape from German captivity. Piaf—a Francilien colloquialism for "sparrow"—was a nickname she would receive 20 years later.

Her mother, Annetta Giovanna Maillard (1895–1945), was of French descent on her father's side and of Italian and Berber origin on her mother's. She was a native of Livorno, a port city on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. She worked as a café singer under the name Line Marsa. with a past in the theatre. Édith's parents herself soon abandoned her, and she lived for a short time with her maternal grandmother, Emma (Aïcha) Saïd ben Mohammed (1876–1930). Before he enlisted with the French Army in 1916 to fight in World War I, her father took her to his mother, who ran a brothel in Normandy. There, prostitutes helped look after Piaf. inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and serve as her stage name, La Môme Piaf A barrage of negative media attention Piaf dated a Jewish pianist during this time and co-wrote a subtle protest song with Monnot. earned Piaf the right to pose for photographs with French prisoners of war, to boost their morale. The Frenchmen were supposedly able to cut out their photos and use them as forged passport photos. Piaf and Cerdan's affair made international headlines, (according to some, 10 October in Paris). She had been drifting in and out of consciousness for several months. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time since the end of World War II that he saw Parisian traffic come to a complete stop. (5 rue Crespin du Gast).

In popular culture

, Poland]]

Films

The film Piaf (1974) depicted her early years, and starred Brigitte Ariel, with early Piaf songs performed by Betty Mars.

Piaf's relationship with Cerdan was also depicted in film by Claude Lelouch in the movie Édith et Marcel (1983), with Marcel Cerdan Jr. in the role of his father and Évelyne Bouix portraying Piaf.

Piaf...Her Story...Her Songs (2003) is a film starring Raquel Bitton in her performance tribute to Edith Piaf. Bitton performs Piaf's most famous songs and describes her tempestuous life. Woven into the filmed concert is a luncheon in Paris, hosted by Bitton, in which some of Piaf's composers, friends, lovers, and family share their memories. These include Michel Rivgauche and Francis Lai, two of Piaf's composers, as well as Marcel Cerdan, Jr., son of the boxing champion who was her greatest love.

La Vie en rose (2007), a film about her life directed by Olivier Dahan, debuted at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2007. Titled La Môme in France, the film stars Marion Cotillard in the role that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress (Oscar), as Piaf. Dahan's film follows Piaf's life from early childhood to her death in 1963. David Bret's 1988 biography, Piaf, A Passionate Life, was re-released by JR Books to coincide with the film's release.

Plays

Piaf (1978), by Pam Gems

Piaf Piaf (1988), by Juha Siltanen and Jorma Uotinen

The Sparrow and the Birdman By Raquel Bitton (1999)

Edith and Simone (2000 and 2006), by Ronny Verheyen

Pure Piaf (2006), by Alex Ryer

No Regrets (2009), by Scotti Sween (TheatreVision/Off-Off-Broadway)

Piaf de Musical (1999 and 2009), a Dutch musical

Edith, het legendarische verhaal van Edith Piaf(2009), by Yves Caspar

Mentions in popular media

In the 1973 Soviet film Seventeen Moments of Spring, her song "Non, je ne regrette rien" is listened to by Stirlitz and Pastor Schlag during their trip in a car together, which took place in the time of the World War II, which of-course was impossible since the song was written in 1956.

In 1996, Ari Folman released the near futuristic comedy Saint Clara. In this film, Édith Piaf is repeatedly mentioned by many of the adults, who remember her seemingly from school, and prove that they are part of the leading culture, as opposed to the immigrants, but the children on both sides have no knowledge of her, and ask who she was. The movie ends with the local men discovering that the Russian immigrants were intimately familiar with Piaf.

In the film Inception (2010), her song "Non, je ne regrette rien" is used frequently to signal to the characters that they are about to be ejected from the dream. The same song played several times slower than the original is also one the film's main musical themes. The film also stars Marion Cotillard, who had portrayed Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

In her song "Slave to the Rhythm" (1985 extended version), Grace Jones begins with an introductory narration that quotes Édith Piaf: "This is what Édith Piaf used to say, use your faults, use your defects, then you're going to be a star...".

In the film Saving Private Ryan (1998), Piaf's 1943 songs "C'Était Une Histoire D'Amour" and "Tu Es Partout" are central to providing a common thread of longing for loves and lives left behind in scenes between Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and Private Ryan (Matt Damon) as well as providing a context for anecdotes from other central characters.

The song La Foule was used in the 2004 film My Summer of Love. The character Tamsin (Emily Blunt) continues to say that 'I just adore her. She was this marvellous Parisian woman who had such a wonderfully tragic life. She was married three times, and each husband died in mysterious circumstances. And the last one was a boxing champion and she killed him with a fork. She didn't even go to prison. Because in Paris crimes of passion are forgiven.'

Other

The minor planet of 3772 Piaf, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina in 1982, is named after her.

Songs

;1925

;1933

;1934

;1935

;1936 (from the movie La Garçonne)

;1937

;1938

;1939

;1940

;1941 (from the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine)

;1942 (from the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine)

;1943 (from the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine)

;1944

;1945

;1946 (with Les Compagnons de la chanson) (with Les Compagnons de la Chanson) (with Les Compagnons de la Chanson) (with Les Compagnons de la Chanson)

;1947 (from the movie Neuf Garçons, Un Cœur) (from the movie Neuf Garçons, Un Cœur)

;1948

;1949 (from the movie L'Homme aux Mains d'Argile)

;1950

Hymn to Love

Autumn Leaves

The Three Bells

Simply a Waltz

(English version)

;1951 (with Eddie Constantine) (with Eddie Constantine) (with M. Jiteau)

;1952 (from the movie Boum sur Paris) (with Jacques Pills) (from the movie Boum sur Paris)

;1953 (with Jacques Pills) (from the movie Boum sur Paris)

;1954 (from the movie Si Versailles M'Était Conté) (from the movie French Cancan)

;1955

;1956

Heaven Have Mercy

One Little Man

'Cause I Love You

(English)

Don't Cry

I Shouldn't Care

My Lost Melody

;1957

;1958

;1959

;1960

;1961

No Regrets

;1962 (with Théo Sarapo) (with Charles Dumont) (with Mikis Theodorakis/Jacques Plante) (with Théo Sarapo)

;1963 (her last recording)

Filmography

La garçonne (1936), Jean de Limur

Montmartre-sur-Seine (1941), Georges Lacombe

Étoile sans lumière (1946), Marcel Blistène

Neuf garçons, un cœur (1947), Georges Freedland

Si Versailles m'était conté (1954), Sacha Guitry

French Cancan (1954), Jean Renoir

Música de Siempre (1958), sang La vida en rosa, the Spanish version of "La Vie en rose".

Les Amants de demain (1959), Marcel Blistène

Theatre credit

Le Bel Indifférent (1940), Jean Cocteau

Discography

The following titles are compilations of Édith Piaf's songs, and not reissues of the titles released while Édith Piaf was active.

The Voice of the Sparrow: The Very Best of Édith Piaf, original release date: June 1991

Édith Piaf: 30th Anniversaire, original release date: 5 April 1994

Édith Piaf: Her Greatest Recordings 1935–1943, original release date: 15 July 1995

The Early Years: 1938–1945, Vol. 3, original release date: 15 October 1996

Hymn to Love: All Her Greatest Songs in English, original release date: 4 November 1996

Gold Collection, original release date: 9 January 1998

The Rare Piaf 1950–1962 (28 April 1998)

La Vie en rose, original release date: 26 January 1999

Montmartre Sur Seine (soundtrack import), original release date: 19 September 2000

Éternelle: The Best Of (29 January 2002)

Love and Passion (boxed set), original release date: 8 April 2002

The Very Best of Édith Piaf (import), original release date: 29 October 2002

75 Chansons (Box set/import), original release date: 22 September 2005

48 Titres Originaux (import), (09/01/2006)

Édith Piaf: L'Intégrale/Complete 20 CD/413 Chansons, original release date: 27 February 2007

There are in excess of 80 albums of Édith Piaf's songs available on online music stores.

Édith Piaf on DVD

Édith Piaf – A Passionate Life (24 May 2004)

Édith Piaf : Eternal Hymn (Éternelle, l'hymne à la môme, Non-US Format, Pal, Region 2, import)

Piaf – Her Story, Her Songs (June 2006)

Piaf: La Môme (2007)

La Vie en rose (biopic, 2008)

Édith Piaf – The Perfect Concert and Piaf The Documentary (February 2009)

Books on Édith Piaf

The Wheel Of Fortune: The Autobiography of Édith Piaf by Édith Piaf (originally written in 1958, 5 years before her death), Peter Owen Publishers; ISBN 0720612284

Édith Piaf, by Édith Piaf and Simone Berteaut, published January 1982; ISBN 2904106014

memoirs, written by stepsister

The Piaf Legend, by David Bret, Robson Books,1988.

Piaf: A Passionate Life, by David Bret, Robson Books, 1998, revised JR Books, 2007

"The Sparrow – Edith Piaf," chapter in Singers & The Song (pp. 23–43), by Gene Lees, Oxford University Press, 1987, insightful critique of Piaf's biography and music.

Marlene, My Friend, by David Bret, Robson Books, 1993. Dietrich dedicates a whole chapter to her friendship with Piaf.

Oh! Père Lachaise, by Jim Yates, Édition d'Amèlie 2007, ISBN 978-0-9555836-0-5. Piaf and Oscar Wilde meet in a pink tinted Parisian Purgatory.

No Regrets. The Life of Edith Piaf, by Carolyn Burke, Alfred A. Knopf 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-26801-3. An in depth and insightful look at Piaf's life.

Édith Piaf in contemporary music

Raquel Bitton sings Edith Piaf..The Golden Album (CD) Soundtrack to:PIAF Her story Her songs starring Raquel Bitton

Barbara Feldon sings Édith Piaf's "La vie en rose" in the 1966 episode of Get Smart entitled "Casablanca".

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "St. Dominic's Preview" on the 1972 album of the same name by Van Morrison.

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "My Mother was a Chinese Trapeze Artist" by The Decemberists on the EP "5 Songs" (2001)

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "Piaf chanterait du rock" by Luc Plamondon, which was most famously recorded by Marie Carmen and Celine Dion.

The song "Edith and the Kingpin" on Joni Mitchell's 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns was revealed to be about Édith Piaf in an interview with Mitchell published in the February 2008 issue of Mojo.

The Elton John song "Cage the Songbird", from his 1976 Blue Moves album, is a tribute to Édith Piaf.

The Marillion song "Lady Nina" has the following line: "And Edith Piaf sings a lullaby for the night."

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "Chocolate Cigarette" by Tom Russell and Sylvia Tyson on Russell's 1991 album Hurricane Season.

Astrid Kirchherr (as played by Sheryl Lee) is identified as a fan of Édith Piaf in the 1994 film Backbeat; in the movie, John Lennon (played by Ian Hart) is portrayed as being somewhat disdainful of her, referring to her as "bloody Édith Piaf".

Jeff Buckley, on the track "Last Goodbye" from his live album Mystery White Boy, asks the crowd in French 'Qu'est-ce que c'est Piaf?', before singing an impersonation.

In his 10 October 2004 concert in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, Jean Michel Jarre performed a rock arrangement of "La Foule".

In November 2008, the French group Mypollux released a rock arrangement of "La Foule".

In the motion picture Saving Private Ryan the Americans find a phonograph and play a French record just before the last climactic battle begins. The captain (Tom Hanks) identifies the singer as Édith Piaf.

The German band Rammstein borrows the lines "Oh non rien de rien, Oh non je ne regrette rien" for the song "Frühling in Paris" off their 2009 album Liebe ist für alle da.

Martha Wainwright sings a collection of 15 songs made famous by Piaf on her album Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, A Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record, released on 24 November 2009, by MapleMusic Recordings. All songs were recorded at Dixon Place Theatre in New York City during the summer of 2009.

One of the most influential Japanese musician, Utada Hikaru, has covered the song Hymne à l'amour (Ai no Anthem) for her second compilation album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 in 2010.

Non, je ne regrette rien is featured extensively in the 2010 movie Inception

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "Heroine" by Lisa Mitchell on the album Wonder (2009).

See also

Music of France

French popular music

References

External links

Edith Piaf's songs

Genealogy of Edith Piaf, Généalogie magazine, n° 233, pp. 30–36

Category:1915 births Category:1963 deaths Category:1930s singers Category:1940s singers Category:1950s singers Category:1960s singers Category:People from Paris Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Category:Cabaret singers Category:Cancer deaths in France Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:French buskers Category:French female singers Category:French-language singers Category:French people of Italian descent Category:French people of Algerian descent Category:French pop singers Category:French Resistance members Category:Torch singers