Brel's muse Madeleine dies
22/01/2007 15:47 - (SA)



Paris - A former model who inspired one of Belgian singer Jacques Brel's best-loved songs, Madeleine, has died by assisted suicide to escape the ravages of a neurological disease, French newspapers reported on Monday.

The 69 year-old woman - whose name was only given a Madeleine Z - swallowed a cocktail of drugs on January 12 at her home in Alicante, Spain, after taking advice from the Spanish association Right to Die with Dignity (DMD), newspapers said.

Brel wrote his classic song in 1962 about waiting with a bunch of lilies for a cinema date with a girl who fails to turn up.

Half-Jewish, Madeleine Z narrowly escaped deportation during World War II and afterwards frequented Paris's thriving jazz-club scene, where she met Brel and sang with him when he performed in prisons and hospitals.

She later said that an occasion when she stood him up for a date was the inspiration for his song.