Barbara

Barbara (pseud. of Monique Serf) (1930-97). French singer-songwriter with a distinctively feminine, theatrical style and obsessively poetic refrains. Her career moved from the Left-Bank Parisian night-clubs of the 1950s (L'Écluse) to popular success in the music-halls of the 1960s (Bobino) and triumph in the concert venues of the 1980s (Le Zénith). Her delicate and sometimes playful songs celebrate recurrent fantasies and dreams—‘L'Aigle noir’ (1968), ‘Marienbad’ (1973)—memories of parents and childhood—‘Nantes’ (1963), ‘Une petite cantate’ (1964)—frustrated love—‘Dis, quand reviendras-tu?’ (1962)—and existential anguish—‘Le Mal de vivre’ (1964).

[Peter Hawkins]

Barbara, Saint, fl. 3d or 4th cent., virgin martyr, whose life is shrouded in contradictory legends. Her father is said to have shut her up in a tower and then to have killed her for being a Christian. He was struck down by lightning, and, by an extended analogy, St. Barbara became the patroness of makers and users of firearms and fireworks. She is invoked for a happy death. Feast: Dec. 4.

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Barbara Eden	santa barbara
Barbara Ehrenreich	barbara mandell