Early years (1929–1939) At age 14, Piaf was taken, by her father, to join him in his acrobatic street performances all over France, where she first began to sing in public. The following year, Piaf met Simone "Mômone" Berteaut, who became a companion for most of her life. In a memoir, Berteaut later falsely represented herself as Piaf's half-sister. Piaf met a young man named Louis Dupont in 1932 and lived with him for a time; she became pregnant, and gave birth, to a daughter, Marcelle "Cécelle" Dupont, on 11 February 1933, when Piaf was seventeen. inspired Leplée to give her the nickname
La Môme Piaf, Leplée was murdered. Piaf was questioned, and accused as an accessory, but acquitted. A barrage of negative media attention now threatened Piaf's career. He changed her stage name to "Édith Piaf," barred undesirable acquaintances from seeing her, and commissioned Monnot to write songs that reflected, or alluded to, Piaf's previous life on the streets. She began forming friendships with prominent people, such as actor and singer
Maurice Chevalier and poet Jacques Bourgeat. Piaf also performed in various nightclubs and brothels, which flourished between 1940 and 1945. Various top Paris brothels, including Le Chabanais,
Le Sphinx, One Two Two, La rue des Moulins, and Chez Marguerite, were reserved for German officers and collaborating Frenchmen. Piaf was invited to take part in a concert tour to Berlin, sponsored by the German officials, together with artists such as
Loulou Gasté,
Raymond Souplex,
Viviane Romance and
Albert Préjean. In 1942, she was able to afford a luxury flat, in a house, in the upmarket
16th arrondissement of Paris area. She lived above the
L'Étoile de Kléber, a famous nightclub and bordello, close to the
Paris Gestapo headquarters. According to Bigard, she performed, several times, at prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, and was instrumental in helping a number of prisoners escape. In particular, at the beginning of the war, Piaf had met Michel Emer, a Jewish musician, famous for the song ''L'Accordéoniste''. Piaf paid for Emer to travel, into France, before German occupation, where he lived in safety, until the liberation. Following the trial, Piaf was quickly back, performing in benefit concerts. In 1947, she wrote the lyrics to the song "
What Can I Do?". It was premiered and recorded by her former lover Montand. Within a year, Montand became one of the most famous singers in France. Piaf also helped launch the career of
Charles Aznavour in the early 1950s, taking him on tour with her and recording some of his songs. ==Personal life==