Étienne Roda-Gil

Étienne Roda-Gil (1 August 1941 in Septfonds, Tarn-et-Garonne, France – 31 May 2004 in Paris) was a songwriter and screenwriter. He was an anarchist and an anarcho-syndicalist.

Biography Roda-Gil was born in the Septfonds internment camp to refugees who had fled Francoism at the end of the Spanish Civil War. His father, Antonio Roda Vallès, had been a militant with the CNT and a member of the Durruti column. In the early 1950s the family moved to Antony, a suburb of Paris, where he studied at the Lycée Henri IV. In 1959, when he was called to military service in Algeria, Roda-Gil instead fled to London, where he became active in anarchist and rock-and-roll circles. He returned to France after receiving a reprieve. He also wrote for Mort Shuman, Angelo Branduardi, Barbara, Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Hallyday, Claude François, Juliette Gréco, and Malicorne, among others.

Roda-Gil died in Paris on 31 May 2004

Family Roda-Gil was married to painter Nadine Delahaye from 1965 until her death in 1990.

Works

Mala Pata (Seuil, 1992)

Over 700 songs, as well as Juin 36 (a rock opera), Café, sang, sucre (a musical), Che Guevara (an oratorio), and ça ira (an opera).