Cyrus Serge Rezvani (born 23 March 1928 in Tehran, Iran) is a painter, writer, playwright, poet, lyricist, and composer of French nationality, with Iranian and Russian-Jewish heritage. He is known in music under the pseudonym Bassiak (from the Russian ë ÃÂðÃÂøÃÂú û, meaning barefoot). Rezvani has lived in France since early childhood. His best-known song, âÂÂLe TourbillonâÂÂ, performed by Jeanne Moreau in François TruffautâÂÂs film Jules and Jim (1962), brought him to fame. Alongside his literary and musical work, Rezvani has been active in visual arts since the 1940s, creating series such as Femme Donna, Effigie, Blanche and Repentirs.
Born in Tehran, Rezvani is the son of a Persian father, Medjid-Khan Rezvani (1900âÂÂ1962), and a Jewish mother who had immigrated from Russia. His mother moved with him to France when he was seven years old and spoke only Russian. He attended a boarding school for Russian immigrants, where he learned French.
Rezvani has written over 40 novels, 15 plays, and two poetry collections. He is the author of more than 150 songs, including the famous ', sung by Jeanne Moreau in the film Jules and Jim, as well as ', also performed by Moreau (he signed these songs under pseudonym Cyrus Bassiak, which means "barefoot" in Russian). Rezvani also wrote two songs for Godard's Pierrot le fou: Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina sing, Jamais je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerais toujours, ô mon amour and Ma ligne de chance. After losing his wife, Lula, to Alzheimer's in 2004, in mid-2005, he re-established acquaintance with the French actress Marie-José Nat, who was then the widow of Michel Drach. The two couples had known each other and had briefly met in the 1960s. Serge and Marie-José married on 30 September 2005, aware (as they said) that they would have only a few more years to live, and he wrote a book about their relationship, Ultime amour. Rezvani lived with Marie-José Nat in Bonifacio until her death in October 2019.