French-Armenian singer Patrick Fiori shared memories of his childhood and talked about the Armenian Genocide during a program broadcast on France 2 Television. The real last name of Patrick Fiori, who became internationally recognized for his role as Phoebus in the “Notre Dame of Paris” musical, is Shushanyan.

During the program, he talked about his Armenian roots.

“I am also an Armenian Genocide survivor. It took a long time for my father to tell us about it since he didn’t want to cause us pain. At the time, I was 13-14-years-old. Before that, the topic of the Armenian Genocide had been a taboo at our house. However, one day, I demanded that he explain. He told me that there was a family in a village that those massacring the Armenians had forgotten about. All the members of that family were praying, waiting for the Turks to enter their home as well. But they had forgotten about them, and that family was the Shushanyan family,” Patrick Fiori said, as France’s Non-Stop People periodical reports.

Singer and composer Patrick Fiori was born in 1969 in Marseilles. His father was Jacques Shushanyan, and his mother was Corsican Maria-Antoinet Fiori. At the age of 12, he starred in a musical. At 17, he released a single called “Stephanie”. In 1993, he represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest where he won 4^th place for his song “Mama Corsica”. In 1994, he released his first album. In 1997, he sang in the “Notre Dame of Paris” musical, which was chosen as the Best Musical of the Year in 1999. The song “Belle” became Song of the Year. Fiori has collaborated with many notable musicians and has even given concerts in Yerevan several times.