List of French people : Famous French People

		List of French people : Famous French People
		Famous French or French-speaking/writing people Actors/Actresses Isabelle Adjani Renée Adorée Anouk Aimée Antonin Artaud, actor, playwright, poet, essayist Fanny Ardant Jean-Pierre Aumont[?] Daniel Auteuil[?] Charles Aznavour Brigitte Bardot Emmanuelle Béart Jean-Paul Belmondo Sarah Bernhardt Juliette Binoche, Academy Award for role in The English patient Charles Boyer Capucine Leslie Caron Maurice Chevalier Claudette Colbert Alain Delon[?] Julie Delpy Gérard Depardieu Catherine Deneuve Fernandel Jean Gabin[?] Annie Girardot[?] Judith Godrèche Isabelle Huppert Irène Jacob Jacques Demy[?] Valérie Kaprisky[?] Virginie Ledoyen Marcel Marceau Sophie Marceau, Princess Isabelle in Braveheart, a "Bond" Girl Jean Marais[?] Miou-Miou[?] Mistinguett Yves Montand Jeanne Moreau[?] Emmanuelle Seigner Simone Signoret Jean-Louis Trintignant Michael Vartan[?] Hervé Villechaize[?] Architects Le Corbusier Étienne-Louis_Boullée Fontaine[?] architect Hector Guimard[?] Charles Percier Claude Nicolas Ledoux[?] Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Authors - See also: List of French language poets Marcel Achard -- playwright and scriptwriter Jean Anouilh -- 20th century dramatist Guillaume Apollinaire -- (born Russian) poet Honoré de Balzac -- realist author Henri Barbusse Charles Baudelaire, 19th century poet Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, comedy playwright Simone de Beauvoir -- 20th century author Henri Bergson -- Nobel Prize Winner Georges Bernanos[?] Tristan Bernard Pierre Boulle Albert Camus -- existentialist author Louis-Ferdinand Céline -- 20th century author Aimé Césaire[?]-- 20th century author François-René de Chateaubriand Jean Cocteau -- 20th century poet and playwright Colette-- 20th century author Benjamin Constant Pierre Corneille -- classicist playwright Alexandre Dumas, père, Author Alexandre Dumas, fils -- Playwright/author Marguerite Duras - 20th century novelist Paul Eluard Léon-Paul Fargue Georges Feydeau Alain Finkielkraut - essayist Gustave Flaubert -- realist author Anatole France Marie de France -- poet Romain Gary Jean Genet André Gide, Nobel Prize Winner Jean Giraudoux Françoise Giroud[?] Victor Hugo -- novelist, poet, and playwright Eugène Ionesco Pierre Choderlos de Laclos[?] Jean de La Fontaine[?] Leconte de Lisle[?] -- parnassian[?] poet Alphonse de Lamartine Stéphane Mallarmé -- poet André Malraux Pierre de Marivaux - playwright Clément Marot -- poet Guy de Maupassant novelist François Mauriac - Roman Catholic writer Prosper Mérimée - 19th century novelist Jean Baptiste Poquelin dit Molière -- 17th century comedic playwright and actor Alfred de Musset -- 19th century poet Anaïs Nin Marcel Pagnol[?] Charles Péguy[?] -- 20th century poet Charles Perrault -- Mother Goose Tales Saint-John Perse[?] Christine de Pisan, historian, poet, philosopher Jacques Prevert -- 20th century poet Marcel Proust -- novelist François Rabelais -- Renaissance writer Jean Racine -- classicist playwright Pauline Reage, novelist Arthur Rimbaud -- symbolist poet Edmond Rostand -- neo-romantic[?] playwright Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- author Marquis de Sade -- erotic and philosophic author George Sand -- feminist author Madame de Sévigné[?] Madame de Staël Antoine de Saint-Exupery , author Stendhal -- novelist (born Henry Beyle) Paul Valéry -- 20th century poet Paul Verlaine -- symbolist poet Jules Verne -- novelist Boris Vian -- 20th century author Alfred de Vigny -- 19th century poet Jean-Marie Arouet dit Voltaire -- Enlightenment[?] author, deist/agnostic philosopher Émile Zola -- naturalist author Aviators Clément Ader Jacqueline Auriol[?] Louis Blériot Henry Farman Georges Guynemer[?] Jean Mermoz[?] Antoine de Saint-Exupery Composers Georges Auric Hector Berlioz Georges Bizet -- composer of Carmen Pierre Boulez -- avant garde composer Marc Antoine Charpentier François Couperin[?] Claude Debussy -- Impressionist composer Paul Dukas -- composer of The Sorcerer's Apprentice Gabriel Fauré César Franck[?] -- also considered Belgian Reynaldo Hahn[?] Pierre Henry[?] -- writer of musique concrete and electronic music Maurice Jarre[?] 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 concrete Les Six -- group of composers Germaine Tailleferre Charles-Marie Widor Criminals Jules Bonnot Henri Désiré Landru -- serial killer Jacques Mesrine Maurice Papon -- politician and war criminal Marcel Petiot -- serial killer Paul Touvier -- Frenchman convicted of war crimes against humanity Dancers Roland Petit[?] See Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergeres[?] Economists Alain Lipietz -- green economist Fashion Liliane Bettencourt[?], majority owner of L'Oreal, wealthiest person in France 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 Filmmakers Jean-Jacques Beineix[?] Luc Besson Bertrand Blier Robert Bresson André Cayatte[?] Jean Cocteau Jacque Cousteau -- inventor of the modern aqua lung Abel Gance[?] Jean-Luc Godard Patrice Leconte[?] Claude Lelouch[?] Louis Malle[?] André Malraux Georges Méliès Maurice Pialat Roman Polanski Jean Renoir Alain Resnais Alain Sarde[?] Jacques Tati François Truffaut, director Roger Vadim -- director Humorists Coluche Francis Blanche[?] Pierre Dac[?] humorist and Resistance worker Pierre Desproges[?] Monarchs - See also list of French monarchs Henri IV Joséphine de Beauharnais -- Empress Louis XIV -- King of France Marie Antoinette -- Austrian born Queen of France Napoléon Bonaparte -- Emperor Napoleon III -- Président and Emperor Musicians, singers Charles Aznavour Josephine Baker, American born entertainer Jane Bathori, opera singer Barbara[?] Georges Brassens[?] Dalida Damia Marie Dubas[?] Serge Gainsbourg Georgius Stéphane Grappelli -- jazz musician Johnny Hallyday -- France's Elvis David Hallyday[?] Kiki -- "Queen of Montparnasse" Claudine Longet[?] Luis Mariano[?] Félix Mayol Mireille Mathieu Mistinguett Pierre Perret[?] Edith Piaf Tino Rossi[?] Charles Trénet[?] Sylvie Vartan Pauline Garcia-Viardot - opera singer & composer Painters Francois Boucher Pierre Brissaud Gustave Caillebotte Paul Cézanne 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 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[?] Philosophers Jean Le Rond d'Alembert Pierre Bourdieu, sociologist Julien Benda[?] Henri Bergson Jean de Crèvecoeur Gilles Deleuze Jacques Derrida René Descartes -- scientist and philosopher Denis Diderot -- Enlightenment author and atheist philosopher Elisabeth Bourdiau de Fontenay[?] Michel Foucault Vladimir Jankelevitch[?] Etienne de La Boétie[?] -- philosopher and politician Marcel Légaut[?] - christian philosopher Jean de Léry[?] -- corsaireand ethnologist, anti-racism acivist Emmanual Lévinas[?] Gabriel Marcel[?] -- philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty -- existentialist philosopher Michel de Montaigne -- philosopher essayist Montesquieu, political philosopher Emmanuel Mounier[?] -- philosopher Blaise Pascal -- scientist, Christian philosopher and author Paul Ricoeur[?] Jean-Paul Sartre -- existentialist philosopher Michel Serres[?] Simone Weil Politicians - See also: Prime Ministers of France, President of France Pierre Badinter[?] -- lawyer, statesman and anti death sentence activist Léon Blum[?] José Bové -- anti-globalization activist Marcel Cachin[?] -- founder of the daily periodic L'Humanité[?] Jacques Chirac Samuel de Champlain -- 1st governor of Canada 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 Alain Lipietz -- green economist Pierre Mendès-France[?] -- Lawyer and Statesman Honoré Mirabeau François Mitterrand -- Lawyer and Statesman Jean Monnet[?] Henri Philippe Pétain -- Head of Vichy France Jean-Pierre Raffarin Victor Schoelcher[?] -- anti-slavery activist Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Maurice Thorez[?] Dominique Voynet[?] -- Physician and Green politician Resistance workers - See also French Resistance Raymond Aubrac[?] Lucie Aubrac[?] Jean Moulin Christian Pineau Violette Szabo -- secret agent Pierre Mendès-France[?] Scientists Louis Agassiz -- geologist André-Marie Ampère -- scientist Jean Baptiste Biot -- physicist Jean-Charles de Borda -- mathematician, physicist, political scientist Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot -- physicist Augustin Louis Cauchy -- mathematician Jean-Francois Champollion -- egyptologist Emilie du Chatelet -- 18th century mathematician Georges Charpak[?] -- physicist, Nobel price winner 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 Marie Curie -- scientist Pierre Curie -- scientist Guillaume Delisle, cartographer René Descartes -- scientist and philosopher Girard Desargues[?] -- mathematician Georges Duby -- historian Pierre de Fermat -- mathematician Jean Baptiste 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 Claude Levi-Strauss, anthropologist Antoine Lévi-Leblond[?] -- physicist Albert Matthiez[?] -- Historien Jules Michelet[?] -- historien Abraham de Moivre -- mathematician Theodore Monod[?] -- naturalist and theologian Claude Mossé[?] -- (Ms), historian Denis Papin Louis Pasteur -- scientist Blaise Pascal -- mathematician and philosopher Étienne Pascal[?] -- mathematician Henri Poincaré -- scientist Simeon Poisson -- mathematician and physicist 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 Sculptors Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux[?] César[?] Camille Claudel Raymond Duchamp-Villon Jean Antoine Houdon Georges Lacombe Auguste Préault[?] Auguste Rodin Niki de Saint-Phalle[?] Sportsmen and -women Louis Acaries[?] -- boxer, former world title challenger, now promoter Jacques Anquetil[?] -- cyclist Louison Bobet[?] -- cyclist Philippe Candeloro[?] - figure skater Eric Cantona -- football player Marcel Cerdan -- world champion boxer Mario D'Agata[?] -- mute-deaf who became a world boxing champion Emile Delahaye[?] -- race car pioneer David Douillet[?] -- judo Bernard Hinault[?] -- cyclist Jean-Claude Killy -- skier Bixente Lizarazu[?] - football player Alain Mimoun[?] -- athlete Antoine Monteiro[?] -- boxer, lost to Santos Laciar for the world title Carole Montillet[?] -- skier Marie-José Perec -- athlete Mary Pierce[?]-- Canadian born French citizen, tennis player Michel Platini -- football player Alain Prost -- automobile racer Christophe Tiozzo[?] -- world champion boxer Jean-Pierre Wimille[?], race car driver Zinédine Zidane -- footballer Theologians Marie-Emile Boismard[?] o.p. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet Jean Calvin Sebastian Castellion[?] -- translator of the Bible Bernard of Clairvaux Yves Congar[?] o.p. André Gounelle[?] Pierre Lagrange[?] o.p. -- founder of the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique de Jérusalem[?] Hubert Languet Maurice Leenhardt[?] -- ethnologist, theologien 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. Others Andre the Giant, professional wrestler Frédéric Bartholdi Paul Bocuse[?] -- Chief cook André Citroen[?] Charles Cros -- poet and inventor Jeanne d'Arc -- (Joan of Arc) warrior, Saint. Pierre de Coubertin -- initiator of the modern Olympic Games Bob Denard -- mercenary Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt Ninon de l'Enclos -- courtesan, patron of the arts Cavalier de la Salle[?] -- explorer Alfred Dreyfus René Dumont -- agronomist engineer and sociologist and ecology activist Jules Dumont d'Urville Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours -- entrepreneur, founder of DuPont Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours -- entrepreneur Maurice Duverger -- jurist Gustave Eiffel -- engineer Ferdinand Foch[?] -- general Paul Héroult -- inventor Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans[?], designed the first steamship in 1783 René Lalique -- artist Charles Leclerc -- general Jacques-Donatien Le Ray -- a "Father of the American Revolution" Auguste and Louis Lumière -- inventors Jean Paul Marat Marcel Mazoyer[?] -- agronomist Montgolfier brothers -- balloonists Jean-Marie Pelt[?] -- botanist Lionel Poilâne[?] -- boulanger Elisée Reclus[?] -- geographer and anarchist Maximilien Robespierre Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin -- magician, namesake of "Harry Houdini" Albert Schweitzer, physician Philippe Starck - designer Sub-lists Franco-Belgian comics artists See also: List of people by nationality - List of Monegasque people, Catalans, Swiss, Belgians
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