Castelnaudary: the roots of Brassens

Just ten years ago, the philatelic association of Castelnaudary decided to publish a collector’s edition of ten stamps in homage to the deceased poet, to recall his Chaurian origins, less known than the Sétois roots of the family. These are the origins of the singer’s father, Jean-Louis Brassens, a mason by profession, who had settled in Sète and had met his future wife, Elvira Dagrosa, daughter of Italian emigrants from the southern region of Basilicata, located in the very south of Italy.

A family of tile makers and platters

If its name is linked forever to the beautiful city of Sète, the origins of the family of Georges Brassens, in fact, are rooted in the clayey soil of Lauragais. He came from a family of tile makers and platters whose origins date back to the end of the 17th century: these were indeed the trades of his grandfather, Jules Brassens, from Castelnaudary (died in September 1940) and his great-grandfather, Louis.

Or the father of the latter, Marc Brassens.

His father, Jean-Louis Brassens, was from this line. The latter’s mother (Georges Brassens’ grandmother) was named Marguerite Tufféry, an evocative name in Lauragais, that of the mayor of Castelnaudary between 1959 and 1970, without being able to say if the poet and the chosen one were affiliated.