Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi, December 23, 1967 in Turin, Italy) is an Italian-born, naturalized French songwriter, singer, former model and the spouse of the former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. At the age of 5, her family left for Paris. When she was 19, she decided to stop studying art and architecture, to become a full-time model. She was a very successful fashion model until 1998. Since then she has devoted herself to chanson. Her debut album, Quelqu'un m'a dit, on which she sings in French (despite her Italian origin), was released in 2002. To date it has sold over a million copies across Europe.