LIST OF FRENCH PEOPLE

This is a 'list of French people'.
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Contents
Actors/actresses
A
B-C
D-L
M-W
Architects
Authors
A
B
C-E
F-J
L
M-O
P-R
S-Z
Aviators
Business
Chefs
Colonial administrators
Composers
Criminals
Dancers
Economists
Fashion
Fictional characters
Filmmakers
Humorists
Monarchs and Royals
Musicians, singers
Painters
Philosophers
Photographers
Politicians
Popes
Resistance workers
Scientists
A-B
C-K
L-O
P-Y
Sculptors
Social Activists
Soldiers
Athletes
Theologians
Military Leaders
Others
See also
Related Links

Actors/actresses


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A



Isabelle Adjani

Renée Adorée

Anouk Aimée

Arletty

Antonin Artaud

Fanny Ardant

Jeanne Aubert

Jean-Louis Aubert

Jean-Pierre Aumont

Claude Autant-Lara

Daniel Auteuil

Charles Aznavour
B-C


Brigitte Bardot

Emmanuelle Béart

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Charles Berling

Suzanne Bianchetti

Juliette Binoche

Bernard Blier

Sandrine Bonnaire

Élodie Bouchez

Bourvil

Charles Boyer

Guillaume Canet

Capucine

Martine Carol

Leslie Caron

Isabelle Carré

Vincent Cassel

Jean-Pierre Cassel

Clotilde Courau

Clemence Poesy
D-L


Jessie Lehnerz

Béatrice Dalle

Lili Damita

Danny

Danielle Darrieux

Alain Delon

Danièle Delorme

Julie Delpy

Catherine Deneuve

Gérard Depardieu

Patrick Dewaere

Arielle Dombasle

Michel Drucker

Anny Dupérey

Romain Duris

Nicolas Duvauchelle

Elisa-Rachel Félix (Rachel)

Fernandel

Brigitte Fossey

Louis de Funès

Félicité du Jeu

Jean Gabin

Annie Girardot

Judith Godrèche

Eva Green

Sacha Guitry

Isabelle Huppert

Irène Jacob

Claude Jade

Marlène Jobert

Valérie Kaprisky

Anna Karina

Jean-Pierre Léaud

Virginie Ledoyen

Pascal Légitimus

Max Linder
M-W


Marcel Marceau

Sophie Marceau

Jean Marais

Jean-Baptiste Maunier

Miou-Miou

Mistinguett

Yves Montand

Jeanne Moreau

Michèle Morgan

Musidora

Gérard Philipe

Michel Piccoli

Jean-Luc Picard

Alexia Portal

Clemence Poesy

Yvonne Printemps

Pérette Pradier

Gabrielle Réjane

Jean Reno

Pierre Richard

Jean Rochefort

Béatrice Romand

Philippine de Rothschild

Nathalie Roussel

Michel Roux

Cheril Sanchez

Emmanuelle Seigner

Delphine Seyrig

Clément Sibony

Simone Signoret

Audrey Tautou

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Marie Trintignant

Gaspard Ulliel

Michael Vartan

Hervé Villechaize

Will Oldham

Architects



Jacques-François Blondel

Germain Boffrand

Étienne-Louis Boullée

Salomon de Brosse

Libéral Bruant

Jacques Androuet du Cercau

Pierre Charreau

Le Corbusier ''pseudonym for Charles Edouard Jeanneret'' (Swiss-born)

Philibert Delorme

Pierre Francois Leonard Fontaine

Ange-Jacques Gabriel

Charles Garnier

Tony Garnier

Hector Guimard

Villard de Honnecourt

Pierre Jeanneret (Swiss-born)

Frantz Jourdain

Henri Labrouste

Claude Nicolas Ledoux

Pierre Lescot

André Lurçat

Robert Mallet-Stevens

Francois Mansart

Jules Hardouin Mansart

Louis Metezeau

Pierre de Montrevil

Jean Nouvel

Charles Percier

Claude Perrault

Dominique Perrault

Auguste Perret

Christian de Portzamparc

Jean Prouvé

Alain Provost

Henri Sauvage

Jacques Germain Soufflot

Louis Le Vau

Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc

Authors


See also: French language authors, French language poets, French novelists
A


Marcel Achard

Guillaume Apollinaire

Louis Aragon

Antonin Artaud
B


Honoré de Balzac -- realist author

Henri Barbusse

Charles Baudelaire, 19th century poet

Pierre Beaumarchais, comedy playwright

Simone de Beauvoir -- 20th century author

Cyrano de Bergerac

Georges Bernanos

Tristan Bernard

Maurice Blanchot

Antoine Blondin

Nicolas Boileau

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

Pierre Boulle

Fernand Braudel

André Breton

Restif de la Bretonne

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Michel Butor
C-E


Albert Camus -- existentialist author

Louis-Ferdinand Céline -- 20th century author

Blaise Cendrars

Aimé Césaire-- 20th century author

Nicolas Chamfort

René Char, 20th century poet

François-René de Chateaubriand

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Emil Cioran

Paul Claudel

Jean Cocteau -- 20th century poet and playwright

Colette-- 20th century author

Benjamin Constant

Pierre Corneille -- classicist playwright

Darry Cowl

Marquis de Custine -- travel writer

Robert Desnos -- 20th century poet

Denis Diderot

Alexandre Dumas, père, Author

Alexandre Dumas, fils -- Playwright/author

Marguerite Duras - 20th century novelist

Vanessa Duriès

Mircea Eliade

Paul Eluard
F-J


Fallet René -- 20th century author

Frantz Fanon -- 20th century author, psychiatrist

Léon-Paul Fargue

Georges Feydeau

Marc Ferro

Amanda Filipacchi -- novelist (French and U.S. citizenship, writes in English)

Alain Finkielkraut - essayist

Gustave Flaubert -- realist author

Anatole France

Marie de France -- poet

Romain Gary

Jean Genet

André Gide, Nobel Prize Winner

Jean Giono

Jean Giraudoux

Françoise Giroud

Julien Gracq

Julien Green

Pierre Guyotat

Auguste Himly, historian

Victor Hugo -- novelist, poet, and playwright

Joris-Karl Huysmans

Eugène Ionesco

Jules-Gabriel Janin --author and theatre critic

Alain Jouffroy -- poet, art critic, plastician
L


Jean de La Bruyère

Jean de La Fontaine

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Comte de Lautréamont (Isidore Ducasse)

Villiers de L'Isle-Adam

Leconte de Lisle -- parnassian poet

Alphonse de Lamartine

Jacques Lacan - psychoanalyst

Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie - historian

Paul Lafargue

Jules Laforgue

Jennifer Lamiraqui

Valéry Larbaud

Maurice Leblanc, created Arsène Lupin

Gaston Leroux- journalist and author, credited with creating the locked room puzzle mystery novel ''Le Mystère de la chambre jaune'' ''(The Mystery of the Yellow Room)'' and author of ''Le Fantôme de l'Opéra'' ''(The Phantom of the Opera)''
M-O


Stéphane Mallarmé -- poet

Hector Malot -- 19th century author

André Malraux

Matthieu Marais — 18th century lawyer and writer

Marcel Marceau — 20th century mime (and member of the French Resistance in World War II)

Pierre de Marivaux - playwright

Clément Marot -- poet

Guy de Maupassant novelist

François Mauriac - Roman Catholic writer

Prosper Mérimée - 19th century novelist

Catherine Millet - art expert, editor and erotic memoirist

Patrick Modiano

Jean Baptiste Poquelin dit Molière -- 17th century comedic playwright and actor

Alfred de Musset -- 19th century poet

Anaïs Nin

Michel Ohl-- 20th century poet and novelist
P-R


Marcel Pagnol

Charles Péguy -- 20th century poet

Charles Perrault -- ''Mother Goose Tales''

Georges Perec

Saint-John Perse

Roger Peyrefitte

Jean Piaget - psychologist

Christine de Pizan, historian, poet, philosopher

Jacques Prévert -- 20th century poet

Abbé Prévost

Marcel Prevost

Marcel Proust -- novelist

Raymond Queneau

François Rabelais -- Renaissance writer

Raymond Radiguet

Jean Racine -- classicist playwright

Pauline Réage, novelist

Arthur Rimbaud -- symbolist poet

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Pierre de Ronsard

Edmond Rostand -- neo-romantic playwright

Raymond Roussel

Maximilien Rubel
S-Z


Marquis de Sade -- erotic and philosophic author

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

George Sand -- feminist author

Jean Paul Sartre -- 20th century existentialist philosopher

Nathalie Sarraute

Pierre Seel, homosexual survivor of the concentration camps, activist, author

Victor Segalen

Madame de Sévigné

Madame de Staël

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and aviator.

Claude Simon

Stendhal -- novelist (born Henry Beyle)

François Truffaut -- 20th century filmmaker

Paul Valéry -- 20th century poet

Vercors

Paul Verlaine -- symbolist poet

Jules Verne -- novelist

Boris Vian -- 20th century author

Alfred de Vigny -- 19th century poet

François Villon

Voltaire

Marguerite Yourcenar

Émile Zola -- naturalist author

Aviators



Clément Ader

Jacqueline Auriol

Louis Blériot

Henry Farman

René Fonck

Georges Guynemer

Raymonde de Laroche

Joseph Le Brix

Marie Marvingt

Jean Mermoz

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author and aviator.

Roland Garros, First to cross the Mediterranean Sea. French Open is named after him.

Business



Bernard Arnault (born 1949), entrepreneur

Liliane Bettencourt, cosmetics, one of the richest persons in Europe

Marcel Bich, (1914-1994), Bic pens

Vincent Bolloré (born 1952), transportation and engineering

Marcel Boussac, textiles, fashion, newspapers, race horse breeding

Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947), automobile manufacturer

André Citroën (1878-1935), automobile manufacturer

Marcel Dassault (1892-1986), aviation

Alexandre Darracq (1855-1931), automotive pioneer

Louis Delâge (1874-1947) automotive pioneer

Emile Delahaye (1843-1905), automotive pioneer

Gerard LeBlond (born 1956), CEO & Founder of Alonyx VI, Inc.

Philippe Camus Former EADS co-CEO

Gerard Louis-Dreyfus (born 1932), agricultural commodities

Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (1771-1834), founder of DuPont

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), entrepreneur

Jacques Foccart (19..-1997), import-export

Léon Gaumont, pioneer film inventor

Paul-Louis Halley (1934-2004), supermarket tycoon

Max Hymans (1900-1961), aviation

Gérard LeBlond (born 1956), founder and publisher of West-Gate Publishing

Jean-Marie Messier (born 1957), former Vivendi CEO

Gérard Mestrallet (born 1949), Chairman and CEO of SUEZ

Gérard Mulliez, entrepreneur (Auchan, Decathlon, Flunch...), whose family is considered as one of the richest in Europe

Charles Pathé, pioneer of film industry

Armand Peugeot, (1849-1915) automobile manufacturer

François Pinault (born 1936), entrepreneur

Jacques-Donatien Le Ray (1726-1803), shipping magnate and a "Father of the American Revolution"

Marcel Renault (1872-1903), automobile manufacturer

James Mayer Rothschild (1792-1868), banker

Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988), wine maker

Eugene Schueller (1881-1954), founder of L'Oreal

Bernard Tapie (born 1943), entrepreneur

Chefs



Austin Olin

Raymond Blanc

Paul Bocuse

Daniel Boulud

Michael Bras

Alexandre Brault

Marie-Antoine Carême

Chiboust

Alain Ducasse

Adolf Dugléré

Urbain Dubois

Auguste Escoffier

Pierre Gagnaire

Michel Guérard

Victor Hirtzler

Laguipière

Jacques Lameloise

Philippe Legendre

Jacques Pepin

Georges Perrier

Jean-Francois Piège

Fernand Point

Charles Ranhofer

Eric Rippert

Joël Robuchon

Albert Roux

Michel Roux

Guy Savoy

Alain Solivérès

François Vatel

Marc Veyrat

Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Colonial administrators



Félix Éboué - Governor general of French Equatorial Africa

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - French Congo

Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac - Louisiana

Samuel de Champlain - New France

François Caron - First Governor of French territories of India

François Martin - Governor for French territories in India

Pierre Christoph Le Noir - Governor for French territories in India

Pierre Benoît Dumas - Famous Governor for French territories in India

Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais - French naval officer and administrator, in the service of the French East India Company.

Joseph François Dupleix - Famous Governor for French territories in India

Lally-Tollendal - Governor for French territories in India

Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau - Governor for French territories in India

Louis Faidherbe - Senegal

Joseph Gallieni - Madagascar

Francis Garnier - French Indo-China (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos)

Émile Gentil - French Congo

Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey - Algeria

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville - Louisiana

Jean Talon - Canada

Composers



Georges Auric

Hector Berlioz

Georges Bizet -- composer of ''Carmen''

Nicolas-Charles Bochsa

Pierre Boulez -- avant-garde composer

Marc Antoine Charpentier

François Couperin

Michel Richard Delalande

Georges Delerue

Claude Debussy -- Impressionist composer

Paul Dukas -- composer of ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice''

Henri Duparc

Gabriel Fauré

César Franck -- also considered Belgian

Jean-Jacques Goldman


Reynaldo Hahn

Pierre Henry -- writer of musique concrète and electronic music

Jean Michel Jarre

Maurice Jarre -- film music composer

Louis-Antoine Jullien

Michel Legrand

Jean François Lesueur

Jean Baptiste Lully, court composer to Louis XIV

Olivier Messiaen

Darius Milhaud

Jacques Offenbach -- noted for his operettas

★ Gabriel Pierné

Francis Poulenc

Jean Philippe Rameau

Maurice Ravel

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle -- composer of "La Marseillaise", French National Anthem

Edmond Roussel

Camille Saint-Saëns

Erik Satie composer of ''Musiques d'ameublement''

Pierre Schaeffer -- inventor of musique concrète

★ Florent Schmitt

Les Six -- group of composers

Germaine Tailleferre

Charles-Marie Widor

Criminals


For Collaboration with Nazi Germany see also the ''politicians'' section.

Jacques de Bernonville (1897-1972), war criminal sentenced to death

Jules Bonnot

Émile Louis

Henri Désiré Landru -- serial killer

Jacques Mesrine

Zacarias Moussaoui

Maurice Papon -- politician and war criminal

Marcel Petiot -- serial killer

Jean-Claude Romand -- murderer

Albert Spaggiari

Charles Sobhraj,killer

Paul Touvier -- One of only two Frenchman to be convicted of crimes against humanity

Dancers



Jane Avril

La Goulue

Sylvie Guillem

Marcelle Lender

Cléo de Mérode

Hellé Nice

François Perron

Marie-Claude Pietragalla

Roland Petit
See also Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergeres

Economists



Marie-Esprit-Leon Walras - Equilibrium Theory (Walrasian Markets)

Antoine Augustin Cournot

Maurice Allais, Nobel Prize

Raymond Barre — Economist and Politician

Frederic Bastiat

Marcel Boiteux

Fernand Braudel

Jules Dupuit

Gerard Debreu — Nobel memorial prize 1983

Dominique Guellec

Jean-Jacques Laffont

Alain Lipietz — green economist

François Quesnay

Pascal Salin

Jean-Baptiste Say

Turgot

Fashion



Liliane Bettencourt, majority owner of ''L'Oreal'', one of the wealthiest people in Europe

Pierre Cardin -- Fashion Designer

Coco Chanel -- fashion designer

Hubert de Givenchy

Christian Dior -- fashion designer

Julien Fournié

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Madame Grey

Daniel Hechter -- inventor of ready-to-wear

Paul Poiret

Yves Saint-Laurent -- fashion designer

Louis Vuitton -- fashion designer

Fictional characters



Astérix, Obelix and Dogmatix (French: Idéfix) (René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo) -- Gaul warriors

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan (Alexandre Dumas, père) -- Musketeers of the King of France

Cyrano de Bergerac (Edmond Rostand -- not fictional but there's no better category)

Lestat de Lioncourt -- infamous vampire creation of Anne Rice

Louis de Pointe du Lac -- French-born vampire companion of Lestat de Lioncourt

Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) -- Captain of three Federation starships within one television series and four motion pictures

Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint Exupéry) -- A famous "little prince".

Erik, The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) -- The "Opera Ghost" who haunted the Palais Garnier.

★ Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (Gaston Leroux) -- Childhood friend of Christine Daae and brother of Comte Phillipe. Competed for the affections of Christine Daae with Erik.

Rastignac (Honoré de Balzac) -- The most ambitious man in Paris?

The Man in the Iron Mask -- Not fictional either, but who knows who he was?

Cpl. Louis LeBeau -- POW, Stalag 13

Inspector Jacques Clouseau -- The bumbling French detective, and star of the Pink Panther movies.

Jean Valjean -- Protagonist of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.

Le Peregrine - Alain Racine - Superhero in the Marvel Universe

Filmmakers



Olivier Assayas

Jacques Becker

Jean-Jacques Beineix

Luc Besson

Alice Guy-Blaché

Bertrand Blier

Catherine Breillat

Robert Bresson

André Cayatte

René Clair

René Clément

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Jean Cocteau

Fabien Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques Demy

Henri Diamant-Berger

Abel Gance

Jean-Luc Godard

Michel Gondry

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Mathieu Kassovitz

Jan Kounen

Patrice Leconte

Claude Lelouch

Louis Malle

André Malraux

Georges Méliès

Maurice Pialat

Jean Renoir

Alain Resnais

Yves Robert

Jean Rollin

Alain Sarde

Claude Sautet

Jacques Tati

Jacques Tourneur

Maurice Tourneur

François Truffaut

Roger Vadim

Agnès Varda

Jean Vigo

Humorists



Coluche

Jean-Marie Bigard

Francis Blanche

Alain Chabat

Pierre Dac humorist and Resistance worker

Jamel Debbouze

Pierre Desproges

Franck Dubosc

Eric et Ramzy

Dominique Le Fort aka "Catman"

Thierry Le Luron

Elie Semoun

Monarchs and Royals


See also French monarchs, members of the French Royal Families

Philip IV the Fair

King François I

King Henri IV

Louis XIV, the Sun King, reigned 1643- 1715.

Henriette Marie, Queen of England, wife of Charles I of England and mother to Charles II and James II.

Philip V of Spain, grandson of Louis XIV through male line, born and bred in France, became King of Spain aged 17.

King Louis XV, reigned 1715- 1774.

King Louis XVI, reigned 1774- 1792, executed in 1793 in Revolution

Emperor Napoleon I, first to be styled 'Emperor of the French', reigned 1799- 1814 and again in 1815.

Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of above.

King Louis Philippe, only monarch styled King of the French. Reigned 1830- 1848.

Napoleon III, grandson of Joesphine by her first marriage, nephew of Napoleon I, President (1848- 1852) and Emperor (1852- 1871). Last French monarch.

Charles-Marie David de Mayréna I -- King of the Kingdom of Sedang

Musicians, singers



Dominique A

Air (band)

Alizée

Antoine

Charles Aznavour

Josephine Baker, American born entertainer

Jane Bathori, opera singer

Barbara

Guy Béart

Bénabar

Michel Berger

Les Béruriers Noirs

Pierre Bouvier

Lucienne Boyer

Georges Brassens

Aristide Bruant

Manu Chao

Daft Punk

Dalida

Damia

Marie Dubas

Jacques Dutronc

Mylène Farmer

Jean Ferrat

Léo Ferré

Nino Ferrer

Thomas Fersen

Claude François -- popular singer 1960s-1970s

Fréhel

David Desrosiers

Sebastien Lefebvre

Chuck Comeau

France Gall

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg

Pauline Garcia-Viardot — opera singer & composer

Gipsy Kings

Georgius

Jean-Jacques Goldman

Stéphane Grappelli -- jazz musician

Juliette Gréco

Gribouille (Marie-France Gaîté)

Yvette Guilbert

Arthur H

David Hallyday

Johnny Hallyday - born in Belgium, served in the French army

Françoise Hardy

Jacques Higelin

IAM

Joëlle

Justice (French band)

Patricia Kaas

Kassav'

Kiki -- "Queen of Montparnasse"

Jossé Lajoie

La Goulue

Boby Lapointe

Bernard Lavilliers

Gérard LeBlond - musician, drummer and author

Maxime Le Forestier

Gérard Lenormand

Claudine Longet

-M-

Christophe Maé

La Mano Negra

Mireille Mathieu

Luis Mariano

Anna Marly

Didier Marouani — musician and composer

Félix Mayol

Mireille

Mistinguett

Ginette Neveu

Yannick Noah

Claude Nougaro

NTM

Noir Désir

Vanessa Paradis

Pierre Perret

Pierpoljak

Michel Petrucciani

Édith Piaf

Michel Polnaref

Lily Pons — opera singer (naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1940)

Tino Rossi

Les Têtes Raides

TTC (band)

Rene Rancourt

Renaud

Jean Sablon

Alain Souchon

Mano Solo

Miossec

Jeff Stinco

Charles Trenet

Christian Vander

Sylvie Vartan

Boris Vian

Benjamin Warren

Zazie

Painters



Jean René Bazaine

Maurice Boitel

François Boucher

Pierre Brissaud

Bernard Buffet

Gustave Caillebotte

Paul Cézanne

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

Jules Chéret

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot

Gustave Courbet

Thomas Couture

Jacques Louis David

Edgar Degas

Georges de la Tour

Eugène Delacroix

Robert Delaunay

André Derain

Marcel Duchamp

Suzanne Duchamp

Henri Fantin-Latour

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Antonio de La Gandara

Paul Gauguin

Jean-Baptiste Gros

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Charles de La Tour

Georges Lacombe

Gerard LeBlond

Fernand Léger

Edouard Manet

Henri Matisse

Claude Monet

Gustave Moreau

Berthe Morisot

Gen Paul

Francis Picabia

Camille Pissarro

Nicolas Poussin

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Georges Seurat

Nicolas de Staël

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Maurice Utrillo

Suzanne Valadon

Horace Vernet

Jacques Villon

Philippe Watteau

Félix Ziem

Philosophers



Pierre Abélard

Louis Althusser

Raymond Aron — sociologist & philosopher

Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Gaston Bachelard

Georges Bataille

Roland Barthes

Jean Baudrillard -- philosopher and sociologist

Pierre Bourdieu, sociologist

Julien Benda

Henri Bergson

Emile Boutroux

Michel de Certeau

André Comte-Sponville

Jean de Crèvecoeur

Guy Debord

Gilles Deleuze

Jacques Derrida

René Descartes -- scientist and philosopher

Denis Diderot -- Enlightenment author and atheist philosopher

Michel Foucault

Félix Guattari

Vladimir Jankelevitch

Étienne de La Boétie -- philosopher and politician

Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe

Henri Lefèbvre

Marcel Légaut - Christian philosopher

Jean de Léry -- ''corsaire'' and ethnologist, anti-racism acivist

Emmanuel Lévinas

Jean-François Lyotard

Nicolas Malebranche

Gabriel Marcel -- philosopher

Maurice Merleau-Ponty -- phenomenologist

Michel de Montaigne -- philosopher essayist

Montesquieu, political philosopher

Edgar Morin

Emmanuel Mounier -- philosopher

Jean Luc Nancy -- philosopher

Blaise Pascal -- scientist, Christian philosopher and author

Jean-François Revel

Paul Ricoeur

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Paul Sartre -- existentialist philosopher

Michel Serres

François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) -- Enlightenment author, deist/agnostic philosopher

Eric Weil -- philosopher

Simone Weil

Photographers



Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Raymond Depardon

Robert Doisneau

Bernard Plossu

Politicians


See also: Prime Ministers of France, Presidents of France

Robert Badinter -- lawyer, statesman and anti death sentence activist

François Bayrou -- UDF party leader

Léon Blum -- politician, Socialist party leader, prime minister

José Bové -- altermondialist

Aristide Briand

Jacques Chirac -- politician, member of center-right wing party, former city mayor of Paris, two-term French president

Georges Clemenceau

Gaspard de Coligny

Bertrand Delanoë

Jacques Delors

Félix Faure, President of France who died of a heart attack while making love to his mistress

Charles de Gaulle -- World War II general, commander of the Free French Forces, heroic French president

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

Guizot, Prime Minister

Gisèle Halimi lawyer and feminist activist

François Hollande -- PS (Socialist Party) leader

Jean Jaurès, politician, pacifist

Lionel Jospin

Bernard Kouchner -- founder of Medecins du Monde and other "French Doctors"

Jean-Marie Le Pen -- Leader of the extreme right party in France, Front National, presidential candidate

Jean-Claude Martinez, lawyer and European deputy

Émile Loubet, President of France that elected in 1899, after the death of Félix Faure

Pierre Mendès-France -- Lawyer and Statesman, prime minister

Honoré Mirabeau

François Mitterrand -- Lawyer and Statesman, president

Jean Monnet

Henri Philippe Pétain -- Head of ''Vichy'' France

Alexandre de Prouville, Viceroy of New France

Ségolène Royal -- politician, Socialist party, presidential candidate

Nicolas Sarkozy -- politician, President of the right wing party, current French president

Victor Schoelcher -- anti-slavery activist

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Maurice Thorez

Jacques Toubon

Dominique de Villepin -- Prime Minister of France

Dominique Voynet -- Physician and Green party politician

Marthe Richard

Popes


See List of French popes

Resistance workers


Resistance workers during the German occupation of France in World War II

Lucie Samuel-Aubrac(1912-2007), human rights activist

Raymond Aubrac (born 1914), statesman

Robert Benoist (1895-1944), SOE operative, champion race car driver

Denise Bloch (1915-1945), SOE operative: King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, Legion of Honor, French Resistance Medal

Andrée Borrel (1919-1944), SOE operative: Croix de Guerre

Madeleine Damerment (1917-1944), SOE operative: Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre, Médaille combattant volontaire de la Résistance

Marie Louise Dissard (1880-1957), U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

William Grover-Williams (1903-1945), SOE operative, champion race car driver

Cecily Lefort (1900-1945), SOE operative: Croix de Guerre

Pierre Mendès-France (1907-1982), lawyer, statesman

Jean Moulin (1899-1943), statesman

Abbé Pierre (1912-2007), Priest and founder of Emmaus

Christian Pineau(1904-1995), statesman

Eliane Plewman (1917-1944), SOE operative: Croix de Guerre

Germaine Ribière (1917-1999)

Élise Rivet (1890-1945), nun executed by Nazis for aiding the resistance

Lilian Rolfe (1914-1945), SOE agent executed by the Nazis

Odette Sansom (1912-1995), SOE operative: George Cross, MBE, Legion of Honor

Suzanne Spaak, Belgian-born agent: "Red Orchestra" intelligence network; executed 1944

Violette Szabo (1921-1945), SOE operative: George Cross, Croix de Guerre

Jean-Pierre Wimille (1908-1949), SOE operative, champion race car driver

★ See also French Resistance

Scientists


A-B


Jean-Loup Bertaux, (CNRS)

Marcelin Berthelot -- chemist

Ben Burridge--Ultra Scientist for NASA
C-K


Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot -- physicist and military engineer

Georges Charpak -- physicist, Nobel prize winner 1992

Alain Connes -- mathematician; Fields Medalist 1982

Pierre Curie -- physicist and chemist

Jean Dausset -- biologist, Nobel prize winner 1980

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre -- mathematician and astronomer

Guillaume Delisle -- cartographer

René Descartes -- scientist and philosopher

Girard Desargues -- mathematician

Pierre Drossard -- astrophysician

Georges Duby -- historian

Robert Debré -- physician

Pierre de Fermat -- mathematician

Hervé Faye -- astronomer

Joseph Fourier -- mathematician and physicist

Pierre Gassendi -- philosopher mathematician

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes -- physicist, Nobel prize winner 1991

Évariste Galois -- mathematician

Camille Guérin -- biologist

Alexander Grothendieck -- mathematician; Fields Medalist 1966 (German-born)

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin

François Jacob -- biologist, Nobel prize winner 1965

Irène Joliot-Curie -- physicist and Nobel Prize winner

Frédéric Joliot-Curie -- physicist, Nobel prize winner 1935
L-O


Laurent Lafforgue -- mathematician; Fields Medalist 2002

Joseph Louis Lagrange -- mathematician

Paul Langevin -- physicist

Pierre-Simon Laplace -- mathematician and physicist

Antoine Lavoisier

Gérard LeBlond -- biochemist, molecular biologist

Jean le Rond d'Alembert -- mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher

Jean-Marie Lehn -- chemist, Nobel prize winner in 1987

Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist

Antoine Lévi-Leblond -- physicist

Pierre-Louis Lions — mathematician; Fields Medalist 1994

Edmond Locard

André Lwoff -- biologist, Nobel prize winner 1965

Benoit Mandelbrot -- mathematician

Albert Mathiez -- historian

André Michaux -- botanist and explorer

Jules Michelet -- historian

Abraham de Moivre -- mathematician

Jacques Monod -- biologist, Nobel prize winner 1965

Theodore Monod -- naturalist and theologian

Philippe Morel --

Claude Mossé -- (Ms), historian

Louis Néel -- physicist, Nobel prize winner 1970
P-Y


Denis Papin

Louis Pasteur — scientist

Blaise Pascal — mathematician and philosopher

Étienne Pascal — mathematician

Henri Poincaré — mathematician and physicist

Simeon Poisson — mathematician and physicist

Michel Rolle — mathematician

Francis Rocard — (CNRS)

Jean Rostand

Paul Rohmer — physician

Laurent Schwartz — mathematician; Fields Medalist 1950

Jean-Pierre Serre — mathematician; Fields Medalist 1954

Albert Soboul — historian

Maria Skłodowska-Curie -- chemist, physicist, and two time Nobel Prize winner

René Thom — mathematician; Fields Medalist 1958

Jean-Pierre Vernant — historian

Alfred Vidal-Madjar — astrophysician

Pierre Vidal-Naquet — historian and Civil Rights activist

Pierre Vilar, historian

Christophe Victor — geographer

Paul-Emile Victor — ethnologist

Wendelin Werner — mathematician; Fields Medalist 2006 (German-born)

Jean-Christophe Yoccoz — mathematician; Fields Medalist 1994

Sculptors



Frédéric Bartholdi

Antonin Carlés

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

César

Antoine-Denis Chaudet

Camille Claudel

Paul Dubois

Raymond Duchamp-Villon

Alexandre Falguière

Jean Antoine Houdon

Antonin Idrac

Georges Lacombe

Antonin Mercié

Hippolyte Moulin

★ Jean-Baptiste Pigalle

Auguste Préault

Auguste Rodin

Francois Rude

Niki de Saint Phalle

Social Activists



Hubertine Auclert -- journalist and feminist leader

Simone de Beauvoir -- author, philosopher, and feminist

Sophie de Condorcet -- feminist

Maria Deraismes -- feminist

Marguerite Durand -- journalist and feminist leader

Olympe de Gouges -- feminist

Samir Kassir -- journalist

Jean Theophile Victor Leclerc -- radical revolutionist, newspaper publisher

Victor Schoelcher -- Abolisionist

Pierre Seel -- homosexual concentration camp survivor, activist, author

Séverine -- feminist

Flora Tristan -- feminist

Soldiers



Claude Martin

Chevalier Bayard

François Achille Bazaine

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte

Georges Boulanger

Thomas Robert Bugeaud

Gaspard de Coligny

François Darlan

Louis Nicolas Davout

Bob Denard

Alfred Dreyfus

Charles François Dumouriez

Ferdinand Foch

Louis Franchet d'Espèrey

Joseph Gallieni

Maurice Gamelin

Henri Gouraud

Bertrand du Guesclin

Joseph Joffre

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan

Alphonse Juin

Marie Pierre Koenig

Jacques de la Palice

Charles Leclerc

Jean Lannes

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny

Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque

Hubert Lyautey

Patrice MacMahon

André Masséna

Jacques Massu

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

Simon de Montfort

Philippe Morillon

Joachim Murat

Michel Ney

Robert Nivelle

Philippe Pétain

Comte de Rochambeau

Raoul Salan

Nicolas Soult

Louis Jules Trochu

Henri de Turenne

Maxime Weygand

Athletes



André the Giant -- professional wrestler

Ben Burridge--school boy

Sarah Abitbol -- pairs figure skater (with S. Bernadis)

Tariq Abdul-Wahad -- basketball player (born Olivier Saint-Jean)

Louis Acaries -- boxer, former world title challenger, now promoter

Luc Alphand -- Alpine skier

Jacques Anquetil -- cyclist

Fabien Barthez -- football player

Stephane Bernadis -- pairs figure skater (with S. Abitbol)

Serge Betsen -- Cameroon born French citizen, rugby player

Alexandre Biamonti -- French Karate World Champion

Serge Blanco -- Venezuela born French citizen, rugby player

Louison Bobet -- cyclist

Surya Bonaly -- figure skater

Andrée Brunet & Pierre Brunet -- 1928 & 1932 Olympic skating Gold Medalists

Philippe Candeloro - figure skater

Eric Cantona -- football player

Georges Carpentier -- world champion boxer

Marcel Cerdan -- world champion boxer

Eugène Christophe -- cyclist

Eugene Criqui -- world champion boxer

Jean booloks -- jockey of Seattle Slew

Richard Dacoury -- basketball player

Emile Delahaye -- race car pioneer

Marcel Desailly -- Ghana born French citizen, football player

David Douillet -- judo

Isabelle Duchesnay & Paul Duchesnay -- ice dancers

Andre Ethier -- Major League Baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers

André Fabre -- horse trainer

Laurent Fignon -- cyclist

Just Fontaine -- football player

Jacques Fouroux -- rugby union player and coach

Pierre Galle -- basketball player -- basketball coach

Lucien Gaudin -- fencer

Thierry Henry -- football player

Bernard Hinault -- cyclist

Cristobal Huet -- hockey player

Constant Huret -- cyclist

Olivier Jacque -- motorcycle rider

Rene Jacquot -- boxer, underdog who became world champion

Laurent Jalabert -- cyclist

Max Jean -- Formula 1 driver

Brian Joubert -- figure skater

Jean-Claude Killy -- skier

Raymond Kopa -- football player

Pascal Lavanchy -- ice dancer (with S. Moniotte)

Suzanne Lenglen -- tennis player

Bixente Lizarazu - football player

Jeannie Longo -- cyclist

André Mahé -- cyclist

Laure Manaudou -- swimmer

Amélie Mauresmo -- tennis player

Jose Meiffret -- cyclist

Eric Millot -- figure skater

Alain Mimoun -- athlete

Sophie Moniotte -- ice dancer (with P. Lavanchy)

Antoine Monteiro -- boxer, lost to Santos Laciar for the world title

Carole Montillet -- skier

Hellé Nice -- pioneer female race car driver

Yannick Noah -- renni player

Tony Parker -- Belgian born French citizen, basketball player

Gwendal Peizerat -- ice dancer

Marie-José Perec -- athlete

Mary Pierce-- Canadian born French citizen, tennis player

Julien Pillet -- fencer

Michel Platini -- football player

Alain Prost -- automobile racer

Antoine Rigaudeau -- basketball player

Georges Stern -- thoroughbred racing jockey

Marcel Thil -- world champion boxer

Christophe Tiozzo -- world champion boxer

Fabrice Tiozzo -- world champion boxer, Christophe's brother

David Trezeguet -- football player

Damien Touya -- fencer

Patrick Vieira -- Senegal born French citizen, football player

Richard Virenque -- Morocco born French citizen, cyclist

Roger Walkowiak -- cyclist

Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver

Zinedine Zidane -- Football (Soccer) Player

Theologians


'O.P.' (''Ordo Praedicatorum'') is the abbreviation used to indicate that someone is/was a member of Dominican order, a Catholic religious order.
'S.J.' (''Societas Iesu'') is the abbreviation used to indicate that someone is/was a member of the Society of Jesus, another Catholic religious order.

Marie-Emile Boismard O.P.

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

Jean Calvin

Sebastian Castellion -- translator of the Bible

Pierre Cauchon -- condemned Joan of Arc

Bernard of Clairvaux

Jean Claude

Yves Congar, O.P.

André Gounelle

Pierre Lagrange O.P. -- founder of the ''Ecole Biblique et Archeologique de Jérusalem''

Hubert Languet

Maurice Leenhardt -- ethnologist, theologian

Etienne Mennegoz

Wilfred Monod

Etienne Nodet O.P.

Rachi de Champagne

Alexandre de Rhodes S.J. -- 17th c. missionary to Indochina

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J.

Auguste Sabatier

Antonin Sertillanges O.P. -- founder of the ''Revue Thomiste''

Bernard Sesboué S.J.

Military Leaders



Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc), commander and Saint

Marquis de la Fayette, military leader in the American Revolution

Others



★ Jaucues

Louis Braille, blind inventor

Charles Cros, poet and inventor

Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc), commander and Saint

Jeanne Calment, who reached the longest lifespan in human history at 122 years and 164 days

André Charles Boulle, cabinet maker

Jean René Champion, first Free French Forces soldier to enter the city of Paris on its liberation in August 1944.

Pierre de Coubertin, initiator of the modern Olympic Games

Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt

Ninon de l'Enclos, courtesan, patron of the arts

Cavalier de la Salle, explorer

Marcel Deprez, electrical engineer

René Dumont, agronomist engineer and sociologist and ecology activist

Jules Dumont d'Urville

Maurice Duverger, jurist

Jean-Baptiste Ebrard, founder of Liverpool, a chain of department stores in Mexico

Gustave Eiffel, engineer

Pierre Charles L'Enfant, planned Washington, D.C.

Charles Michel de l'Épée, founder of world's first public school for deaf people

Marquis de la Fayette, military leader in the American Revolution

Arthur de Gobineau, diplomat, author of ''An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races''

Richard Grimstead, warrior

Paul Héroult, inventor

Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans, designed the first steamship in 1783

René Lalique, artist

Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds, explorer and canal engineer

Auguste and Louis Lumière, inventors

Jean Paul Marat

Jacques Mayol, freediver

Marcel Mazoyer, agronomist

Montgolfier brothers, balloonists

Jean-Marie Pelt, botanist

Elisée Reclus, geographer and anarchist

César Ritz, hotelier

Maximilien Robespierre

Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, magician, namesake of "Harry Houdini"

Pierre Seel, homosexual survivor of the concentration camps, activist, author

Philippe Starck, designer

Vauban, engineer

François Henri de la Motte, French spy executed for treason 1781 in London

See also



List of people by nationality: Belgians, Catalans, Monegasque people, Quebecois, Swiss

List of French Jews

Franco-Belgian comics
Related Links


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