French people of note include:
Actors/actresses
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
- François Berléand
- Charles Berling
- Suzanne Bianchetti
- Juliette Binoche
- Bernard Blier
- Sandrine Bonnaire
- Élodie Bouchez
- Bourvil
- Dany Boon
- Charles Boyer
- Guillaume Canet
- Capucine
- Martine Carol
- Leslie Caron
- Isabelle Carré
- Vincent Cassel
- Jean-Pierre Cassel
- Laetitia Casta
- Marion Cotillard
- Clotilde Courau
D–L
- Béatrice Dalle
- Lili Damita
- Danielle Darrieux
- Alain Delon
- Danièle Delorme
- Julie Delpy
- Catherine Deneuve
- Gérard Depardieu
- Patrick Dewaere
- Arielle Dombasle
- Michel Drucker
- Morgane Dubled
- Anny Dupérey
- Romain Duris
- Nicolas Duvauchelle
- 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
- Noemie Lenoir
- Max Linder
- Sheryfa Luna
M–W
- Marcel Marceau
- Sophie Marceau
- Jean Marais
- Olivier Martinez
- Jean-Baptiste Maunier
- Miou-Miou
- Mistinguett
- Yves Montand
- Jeanne Moreau
- Michèle Morgan
- Musidora
- Gérard Philipe
- Michel Piccoli
- Clémence Poésy
- Alexia Portal
- Yvonne Printemps
- Pérette Pradier
- Rachel (actress) pseudonym for Elisa-Rachel Félix
- Gabrielle Réjane
- Jean Reno
- Pierre Richard
- Jean Rochefort
- Béatrice Romand
- Philippine de Rothschild
- Nathalie Roussel
- Michel Roux
- Emmanuelle Seigner
- Delphine Seyrig
- Simone Signoret
- Audrey Tautou
- Jean-Louis Trintignant
- Marie Trintignant
- Gaspard Ulliel
- Michael Vartan
- Hervé Villechaize
Architects
- Jacques-François Blondel
- Germain Boffrand
- Étienne-Louis Boullée
- Salomon de Brosse
- Libéral Bruant
- Androuet du Cerceau family
- 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)
- Henri Labrouste
- Claude Nicolas Ledoux
- Pierre Lescot
- André Lurçat
- Robert Mallet-Stevens
- Francois Mansart
- Jules Hardouin Mansart
- Louis Métezeau
- 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
- Alain-Fournier
- Jean Anouilh, 20th century dramatist
- Guillaume Apollinaire
- Louis Aragon
- Antonin Artaud
- Marcel Aymé
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
- Tristan Corbière
- Pierre Corneille, classicist playwright
- Darry Cowl
- Marquis de Custine, travel writer
- Robert Desnos, 20th century poet
- Charles Dezobry, historian and historical novelist
- Denis Diderot
- Alexandre Dumas, père, author
- Alexandre Dumas, fils, playwright/author
- Marguerite Duras, 20th century novelist
- Vanessa Duriès
- Paul Éluard
F–J
- 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
- Jean-Edern Hallier
- Auguste Himly, historian
- Victor Hugo, novelist, poet, and playwright
- Joris-Karl Huysmans
- Eugène Ionesco
- Alain Jouffroy, poet, art critic, plastician
L
- Jean de La Bruyère
- Jean de La Fontaine
- Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- Comte de Lautréamont (Isidore Ducasse)
- Leconte de Lisle, parnassian poet
- Alphonse de Lamartine
- Jacques Lacan, psychoanalyst
- Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, historian
- Paul Lafargue
- Jules Laforgue
- 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
- Gérard de Nerval
- Anaïs Nin
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, pseudonym of Jean Bruller
- Paul Verlaine, symbolist poet
- Jules Verne, novelist
- Boris Vian, 20th century author
- Alfred de Vigny, 19th century poet
- Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam
- 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
- Marie Marvingt
- Jean Mermoz
- Les Frères Robert - balloonists Anne-Jean Robert and Nicolas-Louis Robert
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author and aviator
- Roland Garros, first to cross the Mediterranean; 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 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
- 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'Oréal
- Bernard Tapie (born 1943), entrepreneur
Chefs
- Raymond Blanc
- Paul Bocuse
- Daniel Boulud
- Michel Bras
- Marie-Antoine Carême
- Alain Ducasse
- Adolphe Dugléré
- Auguste Escoffier
- Pierre Gagnaire
- Michel Guérard
- Victor Hirtzler
- Ludovic Lefebvre
- Jacques Pepin
- Georges Perrier
- Fernand Point
- Charles Ranhofer
- Eric Rippert
- Joël Robuchon
- Albert Roux
- Michel Roux
- Guy Savoy
- 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, 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, 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 Indochina (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
- Gérard Grisey, avant-garde composer
- 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
- Fabien Lévy, avant-garde composer
- Jean Baptiste Lully, court composer to Louis XIV
- Olivier Messiaen
- Darius Milhaud
- Tristan Murail, avant-garde composer
- 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
- 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
- Gilles de Rais, prolific serial killer
- Jean-Claude Romand, murderer
- Albert Spaggiari
- Charles Sobhraj, killer
- Paul Touvier, one of only two Frenchmen to be convicted of crimes against humanity
Dancers
- Jane Avril
- La Goulue
- Sylvie Guillem
- Marcelle Lender
- Cléo de Mérode
- Hellé Nice
- François Perron
- Roland Petit
See also Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère
Economists
- Antoine Augustin Cournot
- Maurice Allais, Nobel Prize
- Raymond Barre, economist and politician
- Frederic Bastiat
- 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
- Christian Audigier, fashion designer and business man.
- Liliane Bettencourt, majority owner of L'Oréal, one of the wealthiest people in Europe
- Pierre Cardin, fashion designer
- Laetitia Casta, model
- Coco Chanel, fashion designer
- Hubert de Givenchy
- Christian Dior, fashion designer
- Morgane Dubled, model
- Julien Fournié
- Jean-Paul Gaultier
- Daniel Hechter, inventor of ready-to-wear
- Noemie Lenoir, model
- Jennifer Messelier, model
- 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; fictionalized version of a real person)
- 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), 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), fictional character from La Comédie humaine series of novels by Honoré de Balzac
- The Man in the Iron Mask, prisoner who was held in a number of jails, including the Bastille and the Fortress of Pinerolo, during the reign of Louis XIV of France
- Cpl. Louis LeBeau, POW, Stalag 13
- Inspector Jacques Clouseau, bumbling French detective, star of the Pink Panther movies
- Inspector Tarconi, bumbling French detective, star of The Transporter movies
- Amélie Poulain, shy but kind-hearted waitress, star of 2001 film Amélie.
- Jean Valjean, protagonist of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables
- Inspector Javert, antagonist of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables
- Le Peregrine – Alain Racine, Superhero in the Marvel Universe
- Tanguy et Laverdure, duet of pilots known as Les Chevaliers du ciel
- Glass Joe, boxer from Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series of boxing video games
- Aiber (Real name Thierry Morello), professional con-man in the employ of L from popular manga and anime Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Nationally, he is French.
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
- Jean-Marie Bigard
- Francis Blanche
- Alain Chabat
- Coluche
- Pierre Dac, humorist and Resistance worker
- Jamel Debbouze
- Pierre Desproges
- Raymond Devos
- Franck Dubosc
- Eric et Ramzy
- Dominique Le Fort, aka "Catman"
- Thierry Le Luron
- Dieudonné M'bala M'bala
- Fernand Raynaud
- Elie Semoun
- Muriel Robin
Monarchs and Royals
See also French monarchs, members of the French Royal Families
- Philip IV the Fair
- King Francis I
- King Henry 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
- Henri Marie Jean André, Prince Consort of Denmark, married to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
- Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier, Princess of Denmark, married to Prince Joachim of Denmark
Musicians, singers
- Kenza Farah
- 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
- Natalie Dessay, opera singer
- Sacha Distel, heartthrob covered "Raindrops keep falling on my head"
- Marie Dubas
- Jacques Dutronc
- Mylène Farmer
- Jean Ferrat
- Léo Ferré
- Nino Ferrer
- Thomas Fersen
- Claude François, popular singer 1960s and 1970s
- Fréhel
- David Desrosiers
- Sebastien Lefebvre
- Chuck Comeau
- France Gall
- Charlotte Gainsbourg
- Serge Gainsbourg
- 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
- Sébastien Izambard, member of the quartet Il Divo
- IAM
- Joëlle
- Justice (French band)
- Patricia Kaas
- Kassav'
- Kiki, "Queen of Montparnasse"
- Jossé Lajoie
- La Goulue
- Boby Lapointe
- Bernard Lavilliers
- Maxime Le Forestier
- Gérard Lenormand
- Claudine Longet
- Sheryfa Luna
- Matthieu Chedid
- Christophe Maé
- Mano Negra
- Mireille Mathieu
- Luis Mariano
- Alain Marion
- 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 United States citizen in 1940)
- Tino Rossi
- Les Têtes Raides
- TTC (band)
- Rene Rancourt
- Jean Sablon
- Renaud
- Bob Sinclar
- Alain Souchon
- Mano Solo
- Miossec
- Jeff Stinco
- Charles Trenet
- Christian Vander
- Sylvie Vartan
- Boris Vian
- Pauline Viardot, opera singer and composer
- 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
- Pierre Gandon
- Paul Gauguin
- Jean-Baptiste Gros
- Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
- Charles de La Tour
- Georges Lacombe
- Pierre Laffillé
- Fernand Léger
- Édouard 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
- Antoine 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 activist
- 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
- Éric Weil, philosopher
- Simone Weil
Photographers
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Raymond Depardon
- Robert Doisneau
- Guillaume Plisson
- 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, anti-globalization activist, 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, mayor of Paris
- 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, socialist, former prime minister
- 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, former Prime Minister of France
- Dominique Voynet, physician and Green party politician
- Marthe Richard
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
- André-Marie Ampère, physicist and mathematician
- Jean-Loup Bertaux, (CNRS)
- Marcelin Berthelot, chemist
C–K
- Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, physicist and military engineer
- Henri Cartan, mathematician
- Georges Charpak, physicist, Nobel prize winner 1992
- Alain Connes, mathematician; Fields Medalist 1982
- Marie Curie, physicist and chemist
- 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
- Augustin-Jean Fresnel, 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
- Jean le Rond d'Alembert, mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher
- Jean-Marie Lehn, chemist, Nobel prize winner in 1987
- Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond, physicist
- Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist
- 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
- François André Michaux, botanist
- 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, physicist, mathematician and inventor
- 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, biologist and philosopher.
- 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
- Jean-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 Carlès
- Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
- César
- Antoine-Denis Chaudet
- Camille Claudel
- Paul Dubois
- Raymond Duchamp-Villon
- Alexandre Falguière
- Jean Antoine Houdon
- René Iché
- 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, abolishionist
- 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
- Sarah Abitbol, pairs figure skater (with S. Bernadis)
- Tariq Abdul-Wahad, basketball player (born Olivier Saint-Jean)
- Louis Acariès, boxer, former world title challenger, now promoter
- Luc Alphand, Alpine skier
- Jacques Anquetil, cyclist
- Fabien Barthez, football player
- Marion Bartoli, tennis player
- Alain Bernard, Olympic swimmer
- 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
- Eugène Criqui, world champion boxer
- Jean Cruguet, jockey of Seattle Slew
- Richard Dacoury, basketball player
- Emile Delahaye, race car pioneer
- Boris Diaw, basketball player
- 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
- Patrice Evra, football player: Monaco + Manchester United
- André Fabre, horse trainer
- Laurent Fignon, cyclist
- Just Fontaine, football player
- Jacques Fouroux, rugby union player and coach
- Pierre Galle, basketball player and 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 One 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
- Sébastien Loeb, rally driver and 5-time champion
- Jeannie Longo, cyclist
- André Mahé, cyclist
- Claude Makélélé, football player: PSG
- 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 Montero, boxer, lost to Santos Laciar for the world title
- Carole Montillet, skier
- Hellé Nice, pioneer female race car driver
- Joakim Noah, NBA basketball player (Chicago Bulls)
- 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
- Stéphane Peterhansel, car and motor racer, 9 time Dakar Rally winner
- Julien Pillet, fencer
- Michel Platini, football player
- Alain Prost, Formula One driver and 4-time champion
- 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-Émile 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
See:
Others
- 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
- Jean-Louis David, hairdresser
- 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
- 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
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