Carla Bruni-Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi; Italian pronunciation: [ˈkarla dʒilˈbɛrta ˈbruːni teˈdeski]; 23 December 1967) is an Italian and French[3] singer, songwriter and fashion model who served as the first lady of France from 2008—when she married then president Nicolas Sarkozy—to 2012.

She is legally the daughter of Italian concert pianist Marisa Borini and industrialist, classical composer Alberto Bruni Tedeschi.

[4] In 2008, however, Bruni told Vanity Fair that her biological father is Maurizio Remmert, a classical guitarist who comes from a wealthy family.

When Remmert met Marisa Borini at a concert in Turin, he was a 19-year-old classical guitarist, and their affair lasted six years.

[10] The family moved to France in 1975,[5] purportedly to escape the threat of kidnapping by the Red Brigades, a Communist terrorist group active in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s.

Bruni grew up in France from the age of seven and attended the finishing school Château Mont-Choisi in Lausanne, Switzerland.

[13] On 11 April 2008, a 1993 nude photograph of Bruni taken during her modelling career sold at auction for US$91,000 (€65,093) – more than 60 times the expected price.

[16] In 2003, her debut album Quelqu'un m'a dit, produced by Louis Bertignac and released in Europe, was a surprise hit, selling 2 million copies.

[16] Three songs from the album appear in Hans Canosa's 2005 American film Conversations with Other Women,[17] the song Le Plus Beau du quartier was used in H&M's Christmas 2006 commercial, and the title track was featured in the 2003 movie Le Divorce[18] and in the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer.

[26] Following months of speculation, in a television interview broadcast on 23 November 2009, Bruni revealed that she had accepted a role in a forthcoming Woody Allen film.

[29] Italian singer/songwriter Simone Cristicchi's entry in the 2010 San Remo Italian Song Festival was the song "Meno Male", with the chorus lyrics of "Meno male che c'è Carla Bruni" ("Thank goodness for Carla Bruni").

[32] Bruni presented two three-part music series on BBC Radio 2: Postcards from Paris in 2014 [33] and C'est La Vie in 2018.

[35] In October 2024, Bruni returned to the runway to walk in the first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show to take place in six years.

[44] During the 2007 French presidential election, Bruni stated that she would have voted for Ségolène Royal, who was running against her future husband, Nicolas Sarkozy.

"[46] In an interview with Le Point, Bruni said, when asked about her political leanings, "I am left wing, but I'm not against my husband or his party.

[5][52] Bruni told Vanity Fair that Raphaël Enthoven ended their relationship in May 2007 because he felt they had become "like friends", and that they remained on good terms.

[5] Bruni met the recently divorced French president Nicolas Sarkozy in November 2007, at a dinner party.

[57] Following her marriage to Sarkozy, in February 2008, Bruni continued accompanying him on state visits, including to the United Kingdom in March 2008, which created a sensation in the international press and for the public in both Britain and France.

[59] Controversy arose on the eve of the state visit to the UK, with the publication by Christie's auction house of a nude photograph of Bruni taken during her career as a model.

Clothes designer Pardon produced 10,000 of the shopping bags emblazoned with the nude photo taken in 1993, showing Bruni staring at the camera with her crossed hands covering her crotch.

[63] On 19 October 2011, Bruni gave birth to a daughter, Giulia, in the Clinique de la Muette, in Paris.