Q 01/05

Édith Piaf's signature song, whose lyrics she wrote herself in 1945, is which?

A) La Vie en rose

B) L'Accordéoniste

C) La Foule

D) Padam, padam

Answer · why

A) La Vie en rose

It sold a million copies in the United States and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

Q 02/05

What was Édith Piaf's surname at birth?

A) Gassion

B) Dupont

C) Maillard

D) Berteaut

Answer · why

A) Gassion

Her father Louis Gassion was an acrobatic street performer from Normandy.

Q 03/05

Piaf's first name was inspired by which British nurse, executed two months before her birth?

A) Edith Sitwell

B) Florence Nightingale

C) Edith Cavell

D) Mary Seacole

Answer · why

C) Edith Cavell

Cavell was shot by the Germans in 1915 for helping Allied soldiers escape occupied Belgium.

Q 04/05

In French slang, what does 'piaf' mean?

A) A cheap cigarette

B) A tiny glass of wine

C) A small bird

D) A street urchin

Answer · why

C) A small bird

Her first promoter coined the stage name; the fuller nickname 'La Môme Piaf' means 'The Sparrow Kid'.

Q 05/05

How tall was Édith Piaf?

A) 163 cm (5 ft 4 in)

B) 142 cm (4 ft 8 in)

C) 157 cm (5 ft 2 in)

D) 150 cm (4 ft 11 in)

Answer · why

B) 142 cm (4 ft 8 in)

Her tiny frame and extreme stage nerves prompted Louis Leplée to nickname her the Sparrow Kid.