Magdalith

Magdalith, real name Madeleine Lipszyc (August 4, 1932 – September 14, 2013),^[1] was a French painter, singer, composer, author and liturgist. Born in Toulouse to a Jewish family, she converted to Catholicism at the age of 19. Her Catholic faith did not stop her from identifying with her Jewish heritage. As a liturgist, she researched the relationship between synagogal chant and Gregorian chant.^[2]

Magdalith and her family were persecuted during the shoah. Magdalith, her sister and her mother were forced to hide in a dirty basement in Revel while her father died in Auschwitz.^[3] The trauma of the holocaust left her in poor health for the rest of her life.

She was discovered by Eddy Marnay, and worked closely with him during the 1970s.^[4] Marnay assisted Magdalith with two notable works: Improvisations (sometimes called Magdalith) and Grégorien. Improvisations is a work of avant-garde music, while Grégorien consists of original interpretations of diverse pieces from the traditional Gregorian repertoire.^[5]

Because of her poor health, she was never able to take the full vows of a nun. However, she lived in a Congregation of Our Lady of Sion convent in Draveil for the rest of her life.^[6] She died from cancer there in 2013.