Anna Marly

Born into a wealthy Russian noble family, Marly came to France very young, just after her father was killed in the aftermath of the October Revolution.

Marly was born Anna Yurievna Betulinskaya (Анна Юрьевна Бетулинская) into the Russian noble Betulinsky [ru] family living in Saint Petersburg during the October Revolution.

The rest of the family, along with a number of other White Russian refugees, fled across the Finnish border shortly after this, eventually settling in the French town of Menton.

Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie, a prominent figure in the resistance, heard Marly sing the Chant des Partisans in Russian when he visited London in 1943.

[1] Towards the end of the war Marly joined the Entertainments National Service Association, performing her songs to the Allied forces across Europe.

In recognition of the importance of "Chant des partisans", Marly was named a chevalier de La Légion d'Honneur by François Mitterrand in 1985, the fortieth anniversary of the liberation of France.