Editing Mireille Mathieu (section)

===Early years===
Mireille Mathieu was born on July 22, 1946, in [[Avignon]], France, as the eldest daughter in a family of fourteen children; the youngest brother was born after she moved to Paris. Her father, Roger, and his family were natives of Avignon, while her mother, Marcelle-Sophie (née Poirier), was from [[Dunkirk]]. Marcelle arrived in Avignon in 1944 as a refugee from [[World War II]] after her grandmother had died and her mother went missing. Roger, along with his father, Arcade, ran the family stonemason shop just outside the main gate of {{ill|Saint-Véran cemetery|fr|Cimetière Saint-Véran}}. The Mathieu family has been stonemasons for four generations. Today, the shop is named ''Pompes Funèbres Mathieu-Mardoyan,'' owned and managed by her sister Réjane's family.<ref name="autobiography">Mathieu, Mireille; Cartier, Jacqueline. ''Oui Je Crois Q'une Vie Ca Commence Avec Un Mot D'amour''. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1988.</ref><ref name="shop">{{Cite web | title=Pompes Funèbres Mathieu-Mardoyan, Christelle Mardoyan|url=http://www.pfmathieumardoyan.fr/|access-date=28 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Mardoyan">{{Cite web | title=Toussaint: fleurir les tombes grâce à Internet | date=November 2016 | publisher=La Provence | url=http://www.laprovence.com/actu/en-direct/4183150/toussaint-fleurir-les-tombes-grace-a-internet.html|access-date=28 December 2017}}</ref>

The Mathieu family lived in poverty, but their living conditions improved significantly in 1954, when subsidized housing was built in the ''Malpeigné'' neighborhood near the cemetery. Then, in 1961, they moved to a larger tenement in the {{ill|Croix des Oiseaux|fr|Croix des oiseaux|italic=yes}} neighborhood southeast of the city.<ref name="hometown">{{Cite web |title=Mireille Joue Domicile|date=3 November 2014 |url=http://www.francebleu.fr/evenements/musique/mireille-joue-domicile-1898140|publisher=Radio France|access-date=9 December 2014}}</ref>

Roger had once dreamed of becoming a singer, but his father, Arcade, disapproved, which inspired him to encourage one of his children to learn to sing with him in church. Mathieu included her father's operatic voice on her 1968 Christmas album, where it was mixed into the [[O Holy Night|Minuit Chrétiens]] song. Mathieu's first paid performance before an audience, at age four, was rewarded with a lollipop when she sang during [[Midnight Mass]] on Christmas Eve 1950. A defining moment for her was seeing [[Édith Piaf]] sing on television.<ref name="autobiography" />

Mathieu performed poorly in elementary school due to [[dyslexia]], requiring an additional year to graduate. She was born [[left-handed]], and her teachers would strike her hand with a ruler each time she was caught writing with it.<ref name="autobiography" /> She eventually became right-handed, although her left hand remains quite animated when she sings. She has an excellent memory and never uses a prompter on stage.<ref name="comeback album">{{Cite news|last=Street|first=Julie|title=Mireille Mathieu The Comeback Album|url=http://www.rfimusique.com/musiqueen/articles/060/article_6965.asp|access-date=28 October 2011|newspaper=RFI Musique|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318204149/http://www.rfimusique.com/musiqueen/articles/060/article_6965.asp|archive-date=18 March 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Abandoning higher education at age 14 (1961), after moving to Croix des Oiseaux, she began working in a local factory in [[Montfavet]] (a suburb southeast of town), contributing to the family income and paying for her singing lessons. Popular at work, she often sang during lunch or while working. Like her parents, she is short in stature, standing at 1.52 m (5 feet) tall. Her sister Monique ({{IPA|fr|mo.nikə|lang}}), born on July 8, 1947,<ref name="monique">{{Cite web |title=Mme Monique Mathieu|url=http://dirigeant.societe.com/dirigeant/Monique.MATHIEU.76740102.html|publisher=Societe SAS|access-date=15 December 2014}}</ref> began working at the same factory a few months later. Both sisters received bicycles on credit to commute, resulting in long days and difficult memories of riding against the [[Mistral (wind)|mistral]] winds.<ref name="autobiography" /> When the factory closed, Mathieu and her two sisters (Monique and Christiane) became youth counselors at a summer camp before her rise to fame. During that summer, she had her fortune told by [[Tarot cards]] by an elderly [[Romani people|Gypsy]] woman, who predicted that she would soon mingle with kings and queens.<ref name="autobiography" />

Mathieu is [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], and her adopted [[patron saint]] is [[Rita of Cascia|Saint Rita]], the "Saint for the Impossible." Mathieu's [[paternal grandmother]], Germaine née Charreton, assured her that Saint Rita was the one to intercede with God for hopeless cases. Beyond religion, like many artists she holds superstitions and beliefs about luck. When asked to reveal some of her superstitions, she said, "The most important one is to never mention any of them." She has [[stage fright]] and is often seen making the [[sign of the cross]] before stepping on stage.<ref name="autobiography" /><ref name="comeback album" />