List of French people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
[edit]
Actors/actresses
[edit]
A
- Isabelle Adjani
- Renée Adorée
- Anouk Aimée
- Arletty
- Antonin Artaud
- Fanny Ardant
- Jeanne Aubert
- Jean-Pierre Aumont
- Claude Autant-Lara
- Daniel Auteuil
- Charles Aznavour
[edit]
B-C
- Brigitte Bardot
- Emmanuelle Béart
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
- Charles Berling
- Sarah Bernhardt
- Suzanne Bianchetti
- Juliette Binoche
- Bernard Blier
- Sandrine Bonnaire
- Élodie Bouchez
- Bourvil
- Charles Boyeur
- Blandine Buriey
- Guillaume Canet
- Capucine
- Martine Carol
- Leslie Caron
- Vincent Cassel
- Maurice Chevalier
- Aurore Clément
- Claudette Colbert
- Clotilde Courau
[edit]
D-L
- Béatrice Dalle
- Lili Damita
- Danielle Darrieux
- Alain Delon
- Danièle Delorme
- Julie Delpy
- Catherine Deneuve
- Gérard Depardieu
- Patrick Dewaere
- Arielle Dombasle
- 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
- Valérie Kaprisky
- Virginie Ledoyen
- Max Linder
[edit]
M-V
- Marcel Marceau
- Sophie Marceau
- Jean Marais
- Miou-Miou
- Mistinguett
- Yves Montand
- Jeanne Moreau
- Michèle Morgan
- Musidora
- Gérard Philipe
- Michel Piccoli
- Alexia Portal
- Yvonne Printemps
- Pérette Pradier
- Gabrielle Réjane
- Jean Reno
- Pierre Richard
- Jean Rochefort
- Beatrice Romand
- Philippine de Rothschild
- Nathalie Roussel
- Emmanuelle Seigner
- Delphine Seyrig
- Simone Signoret
- Audrey Tautou
- Jean-Louis Trintignant
- Marie Trintignant
- Michael Vartan
- Hervé Villechaize
[edit]
Architects
- Étienne-Louis Boullée
- Le Corbusier pseudonym for Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Swiss-born)
- Philibert Delorme
- Pierre Francois Leonard Fontaine
- Ange-Jacques Gabriel
- Tony Garnier
- Hector Guimard
- Pierre Jeanneret (Swiss-born)
- Henri Labrouste
- Claude Nicolas Ledoux
- Pierre Lescot
- Francois Mansart
- Jules Hardouin Mansart
- Jean Nouvel
- Charles Percier
- Claude Perrault
- Auguste Perret
- Jacques Germain Soufflot
- Louis Le Vau
- Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc
[edit]
Authors
See also: French language authors, French language poets, French novelists
[edit]
A
- Marcel Achard -- playwright and scriptwriter
- Alain-Fournier
- Jean Anouilh -- 20th century dramatist
- Guillaume Apollinaire -- (born Russian) poet
- Antonin Artaud
[edit]
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
- Jacques Brel
- André Breton
- Restif de la Bretonne
- Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
- Michel Butor
[edit]
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
- 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
[edit]
F-J
- Frantz Fanon -- 20th century author, psychiatrist
- Léon-Paul Fargue
- Georges Feydeau
- Marc Ferro
- 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
[edit]
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'opèra (The Phantom of the Opera)
[edit]
M-N
- Stéphane Mallarmé -- poet
- Hector Malot -- 19th century author
- André Malraux
- Pierre de Marivaux - playwright
- Clément Marot -- poet
- Guy de Maupassant novelist
- François Mauriac - Roman Catholic writer
- Prosper Mérimée - 19th century novelist
- Henri Michaux
- 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
[edit]
P-R
- Marcel Pagnol
- Charles Péguy -- 20th century poet
- Charles Perrault -- Mother Goose Tales
- Georges Perec
- Saint-John Perse
- Jean Piaget - psychologist
- Christine de Pizan, historian, poet, philosopher
- Jacques Prévert -- 20th century poet
- Abbé Prévost
- Marcel Prevost
- Marcel Proust -- novelist
- Raymon Queneault
- 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
[edit]
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
- Victor Segalen
- Madame de Sévigné
- Madame de Staël
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery , humanist author and aviators.
- Claude Simon
- Stendhal -- novelist (born Henry Beyle)
- François Truffaut -- 20th century filmaker
- 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
- Marguerite Yourcenar
- Émile Zola -- naturalist author
[edit]
Aviators
- Clément Ader
- Jacqueline Auriol
- Louis Blériot
- Henry Farman
- Georges Guynemer
- Jean Mermoz
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, humanist author and aviators.
- Roland Garros, First to cross the Mediterranean Sea. French Open is named after him.
[edit]
Business
- Bernard Arnault (born 1949), entrepreneur
- Liliane Bettencourt, cosmetics, richest person in France
- 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
- 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 (1901-1956), import-export
- Léon Gaumont, pioneer film inventor
- Paul-Louis Halley (1934-2004), supermarket tycoon
- Max Hymans (1900-1961), aviation
- Jean-Marie Messier (born 1957), former Vivendi CEO
- Gérard Mestrallet (born 1949), Chairman and CEO of SUEZ
- Charles Pathé, pioneer of film industry
- 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
[edit]
Colonial administrators
- Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - French Congo
- Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac - Louisiana
- Samuel de Champlain - New France
- Joseph François Dupleix - 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 - Quebec
[edit]
Composers
- Georges Auric
- Hector Berlioz
- Georges Bizet -- composer of Carmen
- 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
- 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
- Michel Legrand
- Jean François Lesueur
- Jean Baptiste Lully, court composer to Louis XIV
- Darius Milhaud
- Jacques Offenbach -- noted for his operettas
- 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
- Les Six -- group of composers
- Germaine Tailleferre
- Charles-Marie Widor
[edit]
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
- Paul Touvier -- The only Frenchman convicted of crime against humanity
[edit]
Dancers
See also Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergeres
[edit]
Economists
- Maurice Allais
- Frederic Bastiat
- Jules Dupuit
- Gerard Debreu -- Nobel memorial prize 1983
- Jean-Jacques Laffont
- Alain Lipietz -- green economist
- François Quesnay
- Pascal Salin
- Jean-Baptiste Say
- Turgot
- Fernand Braudel
[edit]
Fashion
- Liliane de Bettencourt, majority owner of L'Oreal, wealthiest person in France
- Pierre Cardin -- Fashion Designer
- Coco Chanel -- fashion designer
- Edouard de Givenchy
- Christian Dior -- fashion designer
- Jean-Paul Gaultier
- Madame Grey
- Daniel Hechter -- inventor of ready-to-wear
- Paul Poiret
- Yves Saint-Laurent -- fashion designer
[edit]
Fictional characters
- Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix (French: Idéfix) (René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo) -- Gaul warriors
- Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan (Alexandre Dumas) -- Musketeers of the King of France
- Cyrano de Bergerac (Edmond Rostand -- not fictional but there's no better category)
- 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
[edit]
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
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau
- Jacques Demy
- Henri Diamant-Berger
- Abel Gance
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Mathieu Kassovitz
- Jan Kounen
- Patrice Leconte
- Claude Lelouch
- Louis Malle
- André Malraux
- Georges Méliès
- Maurice Pialat
- Roman Polanski
- Jean Renoir
- Alain Resnais
- Yves Robert
- Alain Sarde
- Claude Sautet
- Jacques Tati
- Jacques Tourneur
- Maurice Tourneur
- François Truffaut
- Roger Vadim
- Agnès Varda
- Jean Vigo
[edit]
Humorists
- Coluche
- Francis Blanche
- Pierre Dac humorist and Resistance worker
- Pierre Desproges
[edit]
Monarchs
See also French monarchs, members of the French Royal Families
- Charlemagne
- Henri IV
- Louis XIV, the Sun King -- King of France
- Louis XVI -- King of France when the Revolution started.
- Marie Antoinette -- Austrian born Queen of France, wife of Louis XVI.
- Napoléon Bonaparte and Joséphine de Beauharnais -- Emperor and Empress of France
- Napoleon III -- Président and Emperor
- Charles-Marie David de Mayréna I -- King of the Kingdom of Sedang
[edit]
Musicians, singers
- Charles Aznavour
- Josephine Baker, American born entertainer
- Jane Bathori, opera singer
- Barbara
- Guy Béart
- Michel Berger
- Lucienne Boyer
- Georges Brassens
- Aristide Bruant
- Manu Chao
- Air_(band)
- Dalida
- Damia
- Marie Dubas
- Jacques Dutronc
- Claude François -- popular singer 1960s-1970s
- Fréhel
- France Gall
- Serge Gainsbourg
- Gipsy Kings
- Georgius
- Jean-Jacques Goldman
- Stéphane Grappelli -- jazz musician
- Juliette Gréco
- Gribouille (Marie-France Gaîté)
- Yvette Guilbert
- Johnny Hallyday - born in Belgium, served in the French army
- David Hallyday
- Françoise Hardy
- Joëlle
- Kassav'
- Kiki -- "Queen of Montparnasse"
- La Goulue
- Claudine Longet
- Luis Mariano
- Didier Marouani — musician and composer
- Félix Mayol
- Mireille Mathieu
- Mireille
- Mistinguett
- Ginette Neveu
- Yannick Noah
- Noir Désir
- Vanessa Paradis
- Pierre Perret
- Michel Petrucciani
- Edith Piaf
- Lily Pons - opera singer (naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1940)
- Tino Rossi
- Jean Sablon
- Alain Souchon
- Charles Trenet
- Sylvie Vartan
- Pauline Garcia-Viardot - opera singer & composer
[edit]
Painters
- François Boucher
- Pierre Brissaud
- Gustave Caillebotte
- Paul Cézanne
- Jules Chéret
- Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
- Gustave Courbet
- Thomas Couture
- Jacques Louis David
- Edgar Degas
- 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
- 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
[edit]
Philosophers
- 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
- Elisabeth Bourdiau de Fontenay
- 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 -- corsaireand 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
- 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
- Jean-Marie Arouet dit Voltaire -- Enlightenment author, deist/agnostic philosopher
- Eric Weil -- philosopher
- Simone Weil
[edit]
Politicians
See also: Prime Ministers of France, Presidents of France
- Robert Badinter -- lawyer, statesman and anti death sentence activist
- Léon Blum
- José Bové -- altermondialist
- Marcel Cachin -- founder of the daily periodic L'Humanité
- Jacques Chirac
- 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
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
- Guizot, Prime Minister
- Gisèle Halimi lawyer and feminist activist
- Jean Jaurès, politician, pacifist
- Lionel Jospin
- Bernard Kouchner -- founder of Medecins du Monde and other "French Doctors"
- Jean-Marie Le Pen -- Leader of the extrem right party in France, Front National
- Pierre Mendès-France -- Lawyer and Statesman
- Honoré Mirabeau
- François Mitterrand -- Lawyer and Statesman
- Jean Monnet
- Henri Philippe Pétain -- Head of Vichy France
- Alexandre de Prouville, Viceroy of New France
- Jean-Pierre Raffarin -- Prime Minister of France since 2002
- Nicolas Sarkozy -- President of the right wing party
- Victor Schoelcher -- anti-slavery activist
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
- Maurice Thorez
- Jacques Toubon
- Dominique Voynet -- Physician and Green politician
[edit]
Popes
[edit]
Resistance workers
See also French Resistance
- Lucie Samuel-Aubrac(born 1912), 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
- 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- ), Priest and founder of Emmaus
- Christian Pineau(1904-1995), statesman
- Eliane Plewman (1917-1944), SOE operative: Croix de Guerre
- Germaine Ribière
- Elise 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
[edit]
Scientists
[edit]
A-C
- Louis Agassiz -- geologist
- André-Marie Ampère -- scientist
- François Arago -- physicist, astronomer (and also politician)
- Antoine Arbogast -- mathematician
- Jean-Baptiste Biot -- physicist
- Jean-Charles de Borda -- mathematician, physicist, political scientist
- Henri Braconnot -- chemist and pharmacist
- Louis de Broglie -- 1929 Physics Nobel Prize winner.
- Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot -- physicist
- Augustin Louis Cauchy -- mathematician
- Jean-François Champollion -- egyptologist
- Emilie du Chatelet -- 18th century mathematician
- Georges Charpak -- physicist, Nobel prize winner (Polish born)
- Marquis de Condorcet -- philosopher, mathematician and political scientist
- Charles-Augustin de Coulomb -- physicist, mathematician, engineer
- Jacques Cousteau, Marine scientist
- Joseph Cugnot
- Irène Joliot-Curie -- scientist
- Pierre Curie -- scientist
[edit]
D-M
- Guillaume Delisle, cartographer
- René Descartes -- scientist and philosopher
- Girard Desargues -- mathematician
- Georges Duby -- historian
- Pierre de Fermat -- mathematician
- Joseph Fourier -- mathematician and physicist
- Pierre Gassendi -- philosopher mathematician
- Pierre-Gilles de Gennes -- physicist, Nobel prize winner
- Evariste Galois -- mathematician
- Frédéric Joliot -- scientist
- Joseph Louis Lagrange -- mathematician
- Pierre-Simon Laplace -- mathematician and physicist
- Antoine Lavoisier
- Jean-Marie Lehn -- chemist, Nobel prize winner in 1987
- Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist
- Antoine Lévi-Leblond -- physicist
- Albert Mathiez -- historian
- André Michaux -- botanist and explorer
- Jules Michelet -- historian
- Abraham de Moivre -- mathematician
- Theodore Monod -- naturalist and theologian
- Claude Mossé -- (Ms), historian
[edit]
P-V
- 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
- Jean Rostand
- Albert Soboul -- historian
- Jean-Pierre Vernant -- historian
- Pierre Vidal-Naquet -- historian and Civil Rights activist
- Pierre Vilar, historian
- Christophe Victor -- geographer
- Paul-Emile Victor -- ethnologist
[edit]
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
- Auguste Préault
- Auguste Rodin
- Francois Rude
- Niki de Saint Phalle
[edit]
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
- Séverine -- feminist
- Flora Tristan -- feminist
[edit]
Soldiers
- Louis Nicolas Davout
- Bob Denard
- Alfred Dreyfus
- Ferdinand Foch
- Bertrand du Guesclin
- Charles Leclerc
- Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
- Simon de Montfort
- Michel Ney
[edit]
Sports people
- 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
- 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
- Eugene Criqui -- world champion boxer
- Jean Cruguet -- 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
- André Fabre -- horse trainer
- Laurent Fignon -- cyclist
- Just Fontaine -- football player
- 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
- 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
- Laure Manaudou -- swimmer
- Amélie Mauresmo -- tennis player
- Jean Max -- Formula 1 driver
- 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 -- tennis 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
- Damien Touya -- fencer
- Patrick Vieira -- Senegal born French citizen, football player
- Richard Virenque -- Morocco born French citizen, cyclist
- Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver
- Zinédine Zidane -- football player
[edit]
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, which is a Catholic religious order too.
- Marie-Emile Boismard O.P.
- Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
- Jean Calvin
- Sebastian Castellion -- translator of the Bible
- 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
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J.
- Auguste Sabatier
- Antonin Sertillanges O.P. -- founder of the Revue Thomiste
- Bernard Sesboué S.J.
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Others
- André the Giant, professional wrestler
- Paul Bocuse -- chef
- Marie-Antoine Carême -- chef, author
- Charles Cros -- poet and inventor
- Jeanne d'Arc -- (Joan of Arc) warrior, Saint.
- Chiboust -- pastry chef
- Pierre de Coubertin -- initiator of the modern Olympic Games
- Adolf Dugléré -- chef
- Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt
- Ninon de l'Enclos -- courtesan, patron of the arts
- Cavalier de la Salle -- explorer
- Marcel Deprez, electrical engineer
- Urbain Dubois -- chef
- René Dumont -- agronomist engineer and sociologist and ecology activist
- Jules Dumont d'Urville
- Maurice Duverger -- jurist
- 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
- Auguste Escoffier -- chef
- Marquis de la Fayette -- military leader in the American Revolution
- Paul Héroult -- inventor
- Victor Hirtzler -- chef
- Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans, designed the first steamship in 1783
- Laguipière --chef
- 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
- Bernard Pivot
- Lionel Poilâne -- boulanger
- Charles Ranhofer -- chef
- Elisée Reclus -- geographer and anarchist
- César Ritz -- hotelier
- Maximilien Robespierre
- Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin -- magician, namesake of "Harry Houdini"
- Philippe Starck -- designer
- Vatel -- chef
- Vauban - engineer
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