Songwriter Anna Marly dead at age 88

PALMER, Alaska, March 13 (UPI) -- Songwriter Anna Marly, best known for her melody that became the French Resistance anthem in World War II, has died in Palmer, Alaska, at age 88.

Dubbed by Gen. Charles de Gaulle as the "troubadour of the Resistance," Marly died at home Feb. 15, the New York Times reported Monday.

Marly -- a singer on the BBC's French Service -- wrote the melody to "Chant des Partisans," or "Song of the Partisans," which became an unofficial French anthem in the waning years of World War II.

"The Partisan" was recorded by Leonard Cohen in 1969 and Joan Baez in 1972.

In all, Marly wrote more than 300 songs including "Une Chanson à Trois Temps," which was recorded by Edith Piaf.

The Russian native born Anna Betoulinsky escaped the Russian revolution with her family after her father was assassinated by a Bolshevik firing squad.

When she started her professional singing career in Paris at age 17 she chose the name Marly from a telephone book, the Times said.

She had no immediate survivors.