Annetta Giovanna Gassion (née Maillard; Livorno, 4 August 1895 – Paris, 6 February 1945), was best known as the mother of French internationally renowned singer-songwriter and actress Édith Piaf, considered France's national Chanteuse,

Line Marsa
Lina Marsa (pictured right), with daughter Edith Piaf (centre) and her husband Louis Alphonse Gassion (pictured left)
Born	Annetta Giovanna Maillard 4 August 1895 Livorno, Tuscany, Italy
Died	February 6, 1945(1945-02-06) (aged 49) Paris, France
Other names	Annetta Gassion Annetta Giovanna Margherita Maillard
Occupation	Cabaret singer equestrian tightrope artist
Known for	Mother of Édith Piaf
Spouse	Louis Alphonse Gassion (m. 1914, div. 1929)
Children	2; including Édith Piaf
Parent(s)	Auguste Eugène Maillard Emma Saïd Ben Mohamed

Gassion, was professionally billed under stage name Line Marsa; she was a cabaret singer and circus performer, as an equestrian and tightrope artist.

Early life

Born Annetta Giovanna Maillard, on 4 August 1895 in Livorno, Italy to French parents who were on tour as part of a travelling circus troupe. Her father, Auguste Eugène Maillard, came from the Loire region of France. Her mother, Emma "Aicha" Saïd Ben Mohamed was the daughter of Saïd ben Mohamed, of Kabyle origin, born in Mogador, Morocco,[1][2][3][4] and Margherita Bracco, who was born in Murazzano, Piedmont, Italy.[5]

Career

Marsa was a singer, circus performer and equestrian. Her stage name, Line Marsa, was inspired by La Marsa, a port in Tunisia, according to her son Herbert. Although said to have a voice similar to her daughter's, she never achieved any success.[6]

Personal life

On 4 September 1914, she married Louis Alphonse Gassion, a singer and circus contortionist. The following year, on December 19, she gave birth to their first child, Édith Giovanna, who would become Édith Piaf. On 31 August 1918, she gave birth to their second child, Herbert. Édith was raised by Annetta's mother, Emma, from 1915 to 1918, when she was sent to Louis Gassion's mother instead because of Annetta and Emma's neglect of her.[7]

Annetta and Louis were divorced on 4 June 1929 because she had become a drunk and a drug addict. She did not remarry.[8]

Death

Line Marsa died of a drug overdose in Paris on 6 February 1945. She is not buried with her daughter, Edith Piaf, at Père Lachaise Cemetery, unlike her husband, Louis-Alphonse Gassion.

In popular culture

Marsa was portrayed by Clotilde Courau in Olivier Dahan's 2007 Piaf biopic, La vie en rose. In 2021 the Comitato Unesco Jazz day Livorno (Unesco Jazz Day Committee of the city of LIvorno, a volunteer no profit organization founded 2012 by the musician, Andrea Pellegrini) declared 4 August "Giornata degli artisti di strada" (street artists day) to remember Line Marsa. The livornese graffiti artist Mart made a painting on the wall pf the public park Villa Fabbricotti and a stone plate: "Line Marsa / (Anita Maillard) / nacque a Livorno / 4 agosto 1805". [9]

References