Dergi Bursa / NİSAN-MAYIS 2019 / Sayı 53

54 armoni harmony Giovanna Gassion adıyla dünyaya geldi ama 20 yaşında, ufak tefek cüssesi nedeniyle ona takılan lakapla, Fransızca “serçe” anlamına gelen “Piaf” adıyla tanındı. Bir şehir efsanesine göre bir sokak lambasının altında doğdu. Babası insanları güldürerek para kazanan bir cambaz, annesi şarkı söyleyerek harçlık toplamaya çalışan bir şarkıcıydı. Hayatının her anında başka bir acıyla karşı karşıya kaldı Piaf. Henüz bebekken kaptığı bir enfeksiyon yüzünden kör olma tehlikesi yaşadı. Bu tehlikeyle mücadele etmek için kendini ve imkanlarını yetersiz gören babası, minik Piaf’ı, bakılması için büyükannesinin yanına, bir geneleve teslim etti. Babası 14-15 yaşlarına gelen Piaf’ı yanına aldı ve ondan, kendi gibi sokaklarda cambazlık yapmasını istedi. Piaf buna karşı çıktı, yapamayacağını söyledi ve babasını sokaklarda şarkı söyleyebileceği konusunda ikna etmeyi başardı. Bir süre babasıyla birlikte sokak gösterileri yaptıktan sonra ondan ayrıldı ve yalnız başına şarkılar söyleyip, onu hayatta tutabilecek kadar para kazanmaya başladı. O yaşına as “Piaf” meaning “sparrow” in French, a nickname she received because of her small size. An urban legend has it that she was born under a street lamp. Her father was an acrobat who earned his living by making people laugh, while her mother was a singer who tried to collect money while singing. Piaf came face to face with a different pain in all stages of her life. She almost lost her eyesight because of an infection she had as a baby. Upon realizing that he did not have the means to fight against this threat, her father left little Piaf to her grandmother in a brothel. When Piaf was 14-15 years old her father took her with him and asked her to work as an acrobat on the streets. Piaf objected, said she cannot do it and managed to convince her father that she can sing on the streets. After making some street shows with her father for some time, she left him and started singing on the streets alone earning enough money to get by. What she lived through until that time could only be a sneak peak of the pains she would have to endure throughout her life. Piaf fell in love at the age of 16. She fell madly in love with the young man who was the father of her child. However, her child Marcelle passed away at the age of 2 due to meningitis and left her mother all alone in this world. And Piaf was left alone with a pain the traces of which would never be erased. She endured all kinds of pain with her emotions that were always at their peak. “Singing is a kind of escape. A completely different world. I am not on this planet when singing.” A single moment… She had only a single moment throughout her 47 year long life when chance and happiness were by her side. It was the moment when she