Author, composer and performer as well known for his songs as for his political
commitment, Jean Ferrat is considered one of the most important figures in
French chanson. Born Jean Tennenbaum in Vaucresson, near Paris, on December 26,
1930, to a Russian father of the Jewish faith and a French mother from the
Auvergne, he grew up in Versailles and then Paris, seeing his father deported to
the Drancy camp and then to Auschwitz, where he was killed during the Second
World War. After giving up his chemistry studies to work, he took drama classes
and devoted himself to music, first as...