Patachou was born Henriette Ragon and in 1948 opened a cabaret bearing her name on the rue du Mont-Cenis. In January 1952 she brought onto her stage a shy author who believed he wrote only for others: Brassens. She sang his songs, then forced him to perform them himself, and a career was launched. Renoir filmed her in the Montmartre she lived in, for French Cancan.
The story
Born Henriette Ragon on 10 June 1918 in the twelfth arrondissement of Paris, she opened her own cabaret in 1948, Chez Patachou, at 13 rue du Mont-Cenis, in Montmartre.
In January 1952 she pushed onto her stage a shy songwriter who only wanted to write for others: Georges Brassens. She sang his songs, made him sing them himself, and a career began.
She sang a great deal herself, recorded and filmed: Jean Renoir's French Cancan, in 1954, put her on screen in the very Montmartre she lived in.
Her son, the musician Pierre Billon, made a career of his own. She was made an Officer of the Légion d'honneur in 2009, at ninety-one.
She died at Neuilly-sur-Seine on 30 April 2015, aged ninety-six, and rests in Division 2, on the Avenue Principale, seventh row, beneath a stone that names her by her married name: “Henriette LESSER, dite Patachou”.
The grave
One stone for two, where the stage name comes last: “Arthur LESSER, 1912-1979. Henriette LESSER, dite ‘Patachou’, 1918-2015.” Her birth name, Ragon, is absent. Nothing of the cabaret on the rue du Mont-Cenis, nothing of Brassens, whom she had pushed onto its stage in January 1952 — the grave presents her as a wife, not as a discoverer.
On site, do not miss
The stone gives three names for one woman: “Henriette LESSER” after her husband, “Patachou” after the stage — and “Ragon”, her birth name, is missing.
Visitors' questions
Where is Patachou's grave?
In Division 2, avenue Principale, seventh row, right by the main entrance. The stone reads “Arthur LESSER, 1912-1979” and “Henriette LESSER, dite ‘Patachou’, 1918-2015”: her stage name comes after her married name.
The Morane brothersDid Patachou launch Georges Brassens?
Yes, in January 1952, in her cabaret on rue du Mont-Cenis. He wanted only to write for others; she sang his songs, then pushed him to deliver them himself on stage. That is where Brassens's career begins.
Georges MoustakiWhat was the cabaret Chez Patachou?
A room she opened in 1948 at 13 rue du Mont-Cenis, in Montmartre, which became one of the places where the young songwriters of post-war French chanson were discovered. She sang there herself every night.
Joseph OllerWhat was her real name?
Henriette Ragon, born in the twelfth arrondissement of Paris in 1918; Lesser by her marriage to Arthur Lesser, with whom she rests. She appeared in Jean Renoir's French Cancan in 1954, and her son is the musician Pierre Billon.
Gilles MargaritisAudio guide to Père Lachaise: the best unusual guided tour!
Discover the secrets of the most astonishing tombs
the audio guidefrom€6.99