Famous French People Christian by Robert Shepherd Vocabulary & pronunciation study by Sue Thomas © Retrouvez la traduction de certains mots à droite du texte Les syllabes accentuées sont en gras et soulignées*

Hello, you're listening to Robert Shepherd on EnglishWaves. It's legacy (n.) héritage time explore the life of a great designer whose post World War II creations were incredibly popular and whose decade (n.) décennie legacy continues to influence the fashion industry decades after his death. He is . fertilizer (n.) engrais Born 21st January 1905 in Granville, Normandy, Dior was the second eldest child to Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior, the owner of a successful fertilizer business and his wife, Isabelle. youth (n.) jeunesse The family moved to Paris when Dior was a young boy and so he spent his youth in the capital. Although he had a real passion for to have the final say (exp.) avoir art and at one time was serious about becoming an architect, his le dernier mot father had the final say and so in 1925, Dior enrolled at the École des Sciences Politiques to begin his studies in political science. end game (exp.) fin de partie The end game was for him to find work as a diplomat. When he instead (adv.) au lieu de graduated in 1928, Dior did quite the opposite of what was to fund (vb.) financer planned and instead opened a small art gallery. He funded it with money received from his father, who gave the financial support on the proviso (n.) à condition on the proviso that the family name did not appear above the to throw open (phrasal vb.) door. ouvrir The gallery threw open its doors to the public just a few years to handle (vb.) gérer later and Dior began handling works of art by people such as Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Max Jacob. short-lived (adj.) de courte durée However, his success was short-lived. In 1931, Dior was forced to to pass away (phrasal vb.) close the gallery due to family problems. His mother and oldest décéder brother passed away and his father's business collapsed. to make ends meet (exp.) Dior had to find a new way to make ends meet. He began selling “joindre les deux bouts” his own fashion sketches and then landed a job illustrating the magazine Figaro Illustré. Dior proved he had an eye for fashion sketch (n.) croquis and in 1938 he was hired as a design assistant by Paris couturier to land a job (exp.) postuler pour Robert Piguet. However, World War II broke out the following un emploi year and Dior was sent to the south of France as an officer in the an eye for fashion (exp.) “le sens French army. de la mode” When France surrendered to Germany in 1940, Dior returned to Paris where he was hired by couturier . Dior became to break out (phrasal vb.) a primary designer alongside his contemporary, Pierre commencer and throughout the remaining years of the war, he dressed the alongside (adv.) aux côtés de women of both Nazis and French collaborators.

It was also during that period that Dior's younger sister, to found (vb.) créer, fonder Catherine, was working for the French Resistance. She was captured and sent to a concentration camp, but she survived and to back (vb.) soutenir was released at the end of the war. magnate (n.) magnat In 1946, Dior founded his own fashion house, backed by the cotton -fabric magnate, Marcel Boussac. The name of his first to coin (vb.) inventer un mot collection was Corolle, but the phrase New Look was coined by nouveau Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar – and it stuck. boxier (adj.) de la forme d’une Dior's designs were popular because they were more voluptuous boite in style than the boxier World War II efforts, but initially he faced resistanc e from women because his designs covered up their legs efforts (n.) mauvaises – assets they were used to flaunting due to the previous productions limitations on fabric. Dior also faced criticism for the amount of fabrics he used in a single dress or suit. However, opposition died to flaunt (vb.) faire étalage down as the wartime shortage of fabrics ended and his New Look range soon re-established Paris as the centre of the fashion fabric (n.) tissu world. to die down (phrasal vb.) se Dior's reputation as a gifted designer grew and he became calmer famous around the world, but his life was tragically cut short. He suffered a heart attack and died while on holiday in Montecatini, shortage (n.) pénurie Italy on 23rd October 1957. He was 52. Dior was buried in Cimetière de Callian, in Var, France. At the time of his death, it range (n.) gamme was reported that Dior's house was earning more than $20 gifted (adj.) doué million annually. There have been numerous theories as to what caused the heart cut short (exp.) interrompre attack. Some media claimed it happened after Dior choked on a fish bone. Others said it happened after a game of cards. to choke (vb.) s’étouffer However, Baron de Redé, a Paris socialite and one of Dior's acquaintance (n.) relation, acquaintances, wrote in his memoirs that one rumour suggested connaissance the heart attack was caused by a strenuous sexual encounter. As of today, we are still no clearer – but we do know that Dior's designs and perfumes live on, as does his reputation as one of the finest designers the world has ever seen. Stay tuned to EnglishWaves for more Famous French.

*Aide à la prononciation !

L’accentuation des syllables aide à comprendre les mots. En connaissant l’accentuation d’un mot on peut aisément le reconnaitre à l’oreille et le comprendre, puis l’utiliser pour s’exprimer. L’accentuation des syllables correspond a une prononciation plus forte, plus marquée. Exemples: synonymous s mais synonym