In Memoriam Charles Aznavour (1924-2018)

Mavi Boncuk |

Charles Aznavour (1924-2018)

Charles Aznavour (/æznəvʊər/; French: [ʃaʁl aznavuʁ]; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, Armenian: Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor, public activist and diplomat. 



Aznavour was known for his distinctive tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. In a career spanning over 70 years, he recorded more than 1,200 songs interpreted in eight languages. He wrote or co-wrote more than 1,000 songs for himself and others.

Aznavour was born in Paris on May 22, 1924, not long after his parents first arrived there. 

He was born with the name Shahnour (or Chahnour) Vaghinag (Vaghenagh) Aznavourian (Armenian: Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան), to Armenian immigrants Michael Aznavourian (b. 1895,  Akhaltsikhe, Georgia) and Knar Baghdasarian, an Armenian from Smyrna (b. 1904, present-day İzmir, Turkey). 

The couple fled Turkey on an Italian ship that brought them to Thessaloniki, Greece, where their eldest daughter, Aida[1], was born in 1923. Aznavour was born at the clinic Tarnier at 89, rue d'Assas in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 6th arrondissement of Paris, into a family of artists living rue Monsieur-le-Prince.

His father sang in restaurants in France before establishing a Caucasian restaurant called Le Caucase. Charles's parents introduced him to performing at an early age, and he dropped out of school aged nine, taking the stage name "Aznavour". 


A portrait photograph of the Aznavour family in the 1920s. Charles' father, Mischa (center), is next to his wife, Knar. Aznavour family



The family had many Armenian friends in Paris, among them a couple named Mélinée and Missak Manouchian. The latter was the military commander of the underground group known as L’Affiche Rouge[2] 

His big break came in 1946 when the singer Édith Piaf heard him sing and arranged to take him with her on tour in France and to the United States.

Aznavour had a long and varied parallel career as an actor, appearing in over 80 films and TV movies. In 1960 Aznavour starred in François Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste, playing a character called Édouard Saroyan. He also put in a critically acclaimed performance in the 1974 movie And Then There Were None. Aznavour had an important supporting role in 1979's The Tin Drum, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980. He co-starred in Claude Chabrol's Les Fantômes du chapelier (1982). In the 1984 version of Die Fledermaus, he appears and performs as one of Prince Orlovsky's guests. This version stars Kiri Te Kanawa and was directed by Plácido Domingo in the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. Aznavour starred in the 2002 Atom Egoyan movie Ararat playing Edward Saroyan, a movie director.


Along with holding the mostly ceremonial title of French ambassador-at-large to Armenia, Aznavour agreed to hold the position of Ambassador of Armenia to Switzerland on 12 February 2009.

Aznavour was married three times: to Micheline Rugel (1946),[67] Evelyn Plessis (1956) and his widow Ulla Thorsell (1967). Six children were produced by these marriages: Séda, Charles, Patrick, Katia, Mischa, and Nicolas.

[1] Georges Diran Garvarentz (1 April 1932 - 19 March 1993)  Armenian-French composer, noted for his music for films and Charles Aznavour's songs married  Aida Aznavourian in Sept. 17, 1965.

Charles Aznavour's sister, Aida Aznavourian

[2] L’Affiche Rouge (The Red Poster), which was the first to carry out armed resistance actions against the Nazis. Aznavour’s family aided the group on many occasions and also hid the Manouchians for several months while they were being hunted by the French police and Gestapo.

The group, which was associated with the French Communist Party and whose members were mostly immigrants without French citizenship, was active in 1942-1943 as part of the French Resistance, and carried out armed attacks against the French police and Gestapo, inflicting casualties among the Germans.

It was named after the red propaganda poster the authorities distributed against it, which included photographs of 10 members who were apprehended.

The group had about 200 members; 67 were arrested, including 34 Jews and three Armenians. Of the 23 who were sentenced to death, 12 were Jews and two Armenian, including Missak Manouchian.