Yvonne George

George started her artistic career on the stage, where she befriended Jean Cocteau, but gravitated especially toward a repertoire of old songs with realist themes.

Yvonne George moved into a ground-floor apartment in Neuilly with desirable decor, where she received many artists and men of letters.

In 1924, well known in Parisian intellectual circles as a charming singer, George became the subject of a passionate love affair with the French poet Robert Desnos, who wrote her numerous poems including the famous J'ai tant rêvé de toi (I have dreamed so much about you).

The themes of the songs, however, and her manner of interpretation with a troubled, broken voice, were to influence other singing and speaking performers such as the French singer Barbara.

Following ineffective treatments, she died in a hotel room near the port of Genoa on 22 April 1930, aged 33.