Serge Gainsbourg

He married Elisabeth Levitsky on November 3, 1951 and separated from her in 1957.

He married Francoise-Antoinette Beatrice Pancrazzi in 1964, whom he divorced in 1966. They had two children, Natacha and Paul.

He was in love with the singer, Jane Birkin and many claimed that they were married, however, their daughter, Charlotte, refuted these claims.

Serge Gainsbourg was born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish emigrants, Joseph and Olga, who moved to Paris following the Russian Revolution. He and his twin sister, Liliane, began playing the piano from a very young age.

In his teenage years, World War II had a profound impact on his psychology and the alienation he was facing as a Jew tormented him a great deal. He then went to Limoges, where he worked with an orchestra and sent his earnings to his family. His family then moved to Limoges using false papers and identification and lived in seclusion. Once Paris was freed from the Nazi Occupation, the family returned to the city.

In 1945, he pursued painting at the illustrious ‘�cole Sup�rieure Des Beaux Arts’ in Paris along with pursuing music.

Frustrated by his not-so-successful painting career, he joined the ‘Societe des Auteurs-Compositeurs’ in 1954 and soon began writing and performing songs at various nightclubs, especially at the famous club, Milord L’Arsoille, in Paris.

It was here that he was discovered by the singer, Michele Arnaud and the composer, Boris Vian, who spread news about his talent. He was later signed on by the Philips Record Label. His debut album, released in 1958 titled, ‘Du Chant A la Une’ won the grand prize of the ‘L’Academie Charles Cros’.

As his own works enjoyed only modest sales, Gainsbourg honed his songwriting skills and began writing for other artists including, Juliette Greco, Petula Clark, Nana Mouskouri, France Gall, Minouche Barelli, Francoise Hardy, etc.

As the French youth took to American and British Rock ‘N’ Roll in the 60s, he moved away from Jazz, worked on more rock-based tunes, wrote film scores, and acted in films like ‘La Rivolta Degli Schiavi’ along with Rhonda Fleming, in 1960.

In 1969, he released the album ‘Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg’ or ‘Je t’aime… moi non plus’ with Jane Birkin. A song of the same title would be re-recorded by Gainsbourg with another artist later in his career.

In 1969, he released the album, ‘Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg’, also known as ‘Je t’aime… moi non plus’, with Jane Birkin, featuring explicit lyrics and simulated sounds of a female orgasm. Despite censorships, bans and condemnation from the Vatican, it became a popular album and was re-released in the US in 2010.

In 1979, he released ‘Aux Armes et cetera’ a reggae adaptation of the national anthem of France, ‘La Marsellaise’. Despite earning the wrath of soldiers, veterans, and Bob Marley (whose wife had sung the erotic lyrics) it was named the ‘50th greatest French rock album’ by the French edition of the ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine.