Singer Raphaël posted the moving story of his Ukrainian grandmother on Instagram on Saturday, as the country is currently being invaded by Russia.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, many personalities have lent their support and told their stories. This is the case of singer Raphaël, who confided in his Instagram account on Saturday. He evoked in a text the story of his Ukrainian grandmother, Vala, herself a refugee after having fled Odessa in the 1920s. Odessa in the 1920s, the long separations, the Russian army, the war… and our own 1920s, this coming earthquake, the eternal return of history, a block that stands up and endures, “of unremitting stupidity” as Kundera beautifully put it,” he wrote.
The companion of actress Mélanie Thierry, with whom he had two children, Roman and Aliocha, then continued: “I think of all those people crushed by Putin’s absurd war! To their courage! To President Zelensky, a mensch (a man of honor, editor’s note) as we say back home, to those who are dear to me, who are still in Odessa, who will not leave! Stop the war in Ukraine!”
The “Caravan” singer went on to post a link to a Unicef fundraiser. He accompanied his moving text with a photo of his grandmother. Very discreet about his private life, the singer confided in 2008 in “L’Express about his Slavic origins. “My great-grandfather, Ukrainian, called me “the little Pole” because of my pale complexion. My grandmother spoke Russian to me,” said the artist, born to an Argentine mother and a half-Moroccan half-Russian Jewish father from Odessa.
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