On the occasion of the reissue of Jacques Brel’s biography by Olivier Todd, last May, many anecdotes came to light, in particular the improbable nicknames of the artist’s daughters.
Jacques Brel is an essential and timeless name in French music. The singer Belgian born April 8, 1929 in Schaerbeek is died October 9, 1978 in Bobigny. It was in 1984 that the biography of Olivier Todd entitled: “Jacques Brel, a life“, was released for the first time. A work that will be reissued on Thursday, May 5, 2022, as reported by the Gala. A milestone event, but above all an opportunity for the author to review every crisp detail of the singer’s life. Olivier Todd did not fail to comb through the biography. Among the defining moments in the life of the singer-songwriter, there are those he spent with his three daughters, Chantal, France and Isabelle. Children who are the fruit of his relationship with his wife, Thérèse Michielsen.
Luck or bad luck, the three children of Jacques Brel have been decked out with unusual nicknames by the poet. “Chantal lives in the present, wears makeup, wants to look very feminine. Talkative, extroverted, she is looking for her inner life, she will be Ostrich.“, wrote Olivier Todd, referring to the couple’s first daughter, Chantal, who died in 1999. As for the second, Franceshe was nicknamed “Breakwater” by her father. A nickname that she would have strongly denied. Which will force the singer to change it to “Guitar“.”Because it takes the form we want to give it“, explains the biographer. As for the youngest, IsabellaJacques Brel nicknamed her “Cloud“.”His youngest always seems to be above the situation“, explains the author. The look of Jacques Brel on his children, Olivier Todd underlines it well in the biography. “Chantal is the inquisition, France, the defense lawyer, Isabelle, who dominates all, the president.“he wrote.
Thérèse Michielsen stayed despite her infidelities
The one Jacques Brel nicknamed “loaf“, mother of her three children, died in March 2020, according to the Belgian press. The mother of the family passed away at the age of 93. “Despite the many infidelities of Jacques Brel, the couple had never divorced“, explains the Gala. The two lovebirds married in 1950 after an astonishing meeting within the France Cordee. It is a Catholic youth movement in Brussels. “In 1947 came a wacky boy. I wondered what is this wacky who stirred a lot of air around him“, had confided Thérèse Michielsen to Cine TV Review. “After a few meetings, I said to myself that if this guy came again, I didn’t come anymore. It ended otherwise…“, she added.
Thérèse Michielsen has lived in the shadow of Jacques Brel since he was put forward by Jacques Canetti. It is duringan interview granted to France Sunday that this discreet wife confided in on the subject. “I hide since he sings“she confided. “I experienced three years of marvelous happiness with Jacques when he worked in his father’s cardboard factory. But since he became a singer, I decided to go unnoticed.“she added wistfully.