Gainsbourg, Serge

SINGER (FRANCE)
BORN 2 Apr 1928, Paris - DIED 2 Mar 1991, Paris: 5 bis, Rue de Verneuil
BIRTH NAME Ginsburg, Lucien
CAUSE OF DEATH heart attack
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière du Montparnasse, 3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet (division 01)

Serge Gainsbourg was born Lucien Gisburg into a Russian Jewish family who had fled to France during the revolution of 1917. During the Second World War he and his family had to wear a yellow star and evantually they fled from Paris.

In 1951 he married Elisabeth Levitsky, but he divorced her in 1957. By that time a career as a painter had failed and he worked as a pianist in bars. He started writing songs and among his early successes was ""Le Poinçonneur des Lilas". In 1964 he married Françoise-Antoinette "Béatrice" Pancrazzi (b. 28 Jul 1931) and they had two children. They divorced in 1966. In 1968 he met the English actress Jane Birkin during the shooting of "Slogan". They married when she was 21 and he was 40 and in 1971 they had a daughter, the well known actress Charlotte.

Since 1965 his songs had attracted more and more attention and sometimes they caused scandals. In 1969 Serge and Jane had released "Je t'aime... moi non plus", in which a female orgasm was simulated. It was originally recorded with Brigitte Bardot (his lover at the time), but after she backed out it was recorded with his new lover Jane.

During the 1970s he made several concept albums like "Rock Around the Bunker", about the nazis. In 1980 Jane Birkin left him. She was tired of his drinking and his out rageous behaviour and she was pregnant by director Jacques Dillon. By that time Serge had become a regular television personality, known for his humour and his provocations. In 1986 he had another child, Lucien, by singer Caroline von Paulus (known as Bambou). She was the granddaughter of General Friedrich Paulus.

During his last years he suffered from health problems and underwent liver surgery. He died from a heart attack in 1991 and was buried in his parents´ grave at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris.

Related persons
• cooperated with Gall, France

Images

The grave of Serge Gainsbourg at the Montparnasse cemetery, Paris.
Picture by Androom (27 Aug 2001)

 

Sources
• Beyern, Bertrand, Guide des Cimetières en France, Le Cherche Midi Éditeur, Paris, 1994
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Serge Gainsbourg - Wikipedia


Gal, Auguste

Published: 18 Oct 2009
Last update: 25 Apr 2022