FAMOUS FRENCH 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
· Charles Berling
· Sarah Bernhardt
· Suzanne Bianchetti
· Juliette Binoche, Academy Award for role in The English Patient
· Sandrine Bonnaire
· Élodie Bouchez
· Bourvil
· Charles Boyer
· Guillaume Canet
· Capucine
· Leslie Caron
· Vincent Cassel
· Maurice Chevalier
· Aurore Clément
· Claudette Colbert
· Clotilde Courau
· Lili Damita
· Alain Delon
· Julie Delpy
· Catherine Deneuve
· Gérard Depardieu
· Patrick Dewaere
· Fernandel
· Louis de Funès
· Jean Gabin
· Annie Girardot
· Judith Godrèche
· Eva Green
· Sacha Guitry
· Isabelle Huppert
· Irène Jacob
· Valérie Kaprisky
· Virginie Ledoyen
· Marcel Marceau
· Sophie Marceau, Princess Isabelle in Braveheart, a "Bond" Girl
· Jean Marais
· Miou-Miou
· Mistinguett
· Yves Montand
· Jeanne Moreau
· Michèle Morgan
· Michel Piccoli
· Yvonne Printemps
· Pérette Pradier
· Pierre Richard
· Jean Rochefort
· Philippine de Rothschild
· Emmanuelle Seigner
· Delphine Seyrig
· Simone Signoret
· Audrey Tautou
· Jean-Louis Trintignant
· Marie 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: French language authors, French language poets, French novelists
· Marcel Achard -- playwright and scriptwriter
· Alain-Fournier
· Jean Anouilh -- 20th century dramatist
· Guillaume Apollinaire -- (born Russian) poet
· Antonin Artaud
· 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
· Pierre Boulle
· Fernand Braudel
· André Breton
· Restif de le Bretonne
· Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
· Michel Butor
· Albert Camus -- existentialist author
· Louis-Ferdinand Céline -- 20th century author
· Blaise Cendrars
· Aimé Césaire-- 20th century author
· Chamfort
· René Char, 20th century poet
· François-René de Chateaubriand
· E. M. 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
· Denis Diderot
· Alexandre Dumas, père, Author
· Alexandre Dumas, fils -- Playwright/author
· Marguerite Duras - 20th century novelist
· Mircea Eliade
· Paul Eluard
· Frantz Fanon -- 20th century author, psychiatrist
· 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 Giono
· Jean Giraudoux
· Françoise Giroud
· Julien Gracq
· Julien Green
· Pierre Guyotat
· Victor Hugo -- novelist, poet, and playwright
· Joris-Karl Huysmans
· Eugène Ionesco
· 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
· Jules Laforgue
· Valéry Larbaud
· 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
· Patrick Modiano
· 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
· Georges Perec
· Saint-John Perse
· Jean Piaget - psychologist
· Christine de Pizan, historian, poet, philosopher
· Jacques Prevert -- 20th century poet
· Abbé Prévost
· Marcel Prevost
· Marcel Proust -- novelist
· 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
· Marquis de Sade -- erotic and philosophic author
· Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
· George Sand -- feminist author
· 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)
· Paul Valéry -- 20th century poet
· Paul Verlaine -- symbolist poet
· Jules Verne -- novelist
· Boris Vian -- 20th century author
· Alfred de Vigny -- 19th century poet
· François Villon
· Émile Zola -- naturalist author
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.
Business
· Bernard Arnault (born 1949), entrepreneur
· Marcel Bich, (1914-1994), Bic pens
· Vincent Bolloré (born 1952), transportation and engineering
· Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947), automobile manufacturer
· André Citroen (1878-1935), automobile manufacturer
· Marcel Dassault (1892-1986), aviation
· 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 (1913-1997), import-export
· Paul-Louis Halley (1934-2004), supermarket tycoon
· Max Hymans (1900-1961), aviation
· Jean-Marie Messier (born 1957), former Vivendi CEO
· 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
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
Dancers
· Roland Petit
· Jane Avril (1868-1943), singer/dancer
· See also Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergeres
Economists
· Maurice Allais
· Frederic Bastiat
· Jules Dupuit
· Alain Lipietz -- green economist
· François Quesnay
· Pascal Salin
· Jean-Baptiste Say
· Turgot
Fashion
· Liliane de 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
Fictional characters
· Asterix, Obelix and Idefix (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 ;)
· 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?
Filmmakers
· Olivier Assayas
· Jacques Becker
· Jean-Jacques Beineix
· Luc Besson
· Bertrand Blier
· Catherine Breillat
· Robert Bresson
· André Cayatte
· Jean Cocteau
· Jacques Cousteau -- inventor of the modern aqua lung
· Jacques Demy
· Abel Gance
· Jean-Luc Godard
· Jean-Pierre Jeunet
· Mathieu Kassovitz -- also actor
· Patrice Leconte
· Claude Lelouch
· Louis Malle
· André Malraux
· Georges Méliès
· Maurice Pialat
· Roman Polanski
· Jean Renoir
· Alain Resnais
· Alain Sarde
· Jacques Tati
· Maurice Tourneur (1878-1961), director
· François Truffaut, director
· Roger Vadim -- director
· Agnès Varda
· Jean Vigo
Humorists
· Coluche
· Francis Blanche
· Pierre Dac humorist and Resistance worker
· Pierre Desproges
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
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
· Dalida
· Damia
· Marie Dubas
· Claude François -- popular singer 1960s-1970s
· Fréhel
· France Gall
· Serge Gainsbourg
· Yvette Guilbert
· Gipsy Kings
· Jean-Jacques Goldman
· Georgius
· Stéphane Grappelli -- jazz musician
· Juliette Gréco
· Gribouille (Marie-France Gaîté)
· Johnny Hallyday
· David Hallyday
· Joëlle
· Kiki -- "Queen of Montparnasse"
· La Goulue
· Claudine Longet
· Luis Mariano
· Didier Marouani — musician and composer
· Félix Mayol
· Mireille Mathieu
· Mireille
· Mistinguett
· Ginette Neveu
· Pierre Perret
· 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
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
· 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
· Louis Althusser
· Jean le Rond d'Alembert
· Georges Bataille
· Roland Barthes
· Jean Baudrillard -- philosopher and sociologist
· Pierre Bourdieu, sociologist
· Julien Benda
· Henri Bergson
· Emile Boutroux
· Jean de Crèvecoeur
· Michel de Certeau
· 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
· Paul Ricoeur
· Jean-Jacques Rousseau
· Jean-Paul Sartre -- existentialist philosopher
· Michel Serres
· Jean-Marie Arouet dit Voltaire -- Enlightenment author, deist/agnostic philosopher
· Simone Weil
Politicians
See also: Prime Ministers of France, Presidents of France
· Robert 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
· Alexandre de Prouville, Viceroy of New France
· Jean-Pierre Raffarin -- Prime Minister of France since 2002
· Victor Schoelcher -- anti-slavery activist
· Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
· Maurice Thorez
· Jacques Toubon
· Dominique Voynet -- Physician and Green politician
Popes
· Pope Urban IV (1261-1264): Jacques Pantaléon
· Pope Clement IV (1265-1268): Guy Foulques
· Pope Innocent V (1276)
· Pope Martin IV (1281-1285): Simon de Brie
· Pope Clement V (1305-1314): Bertrand de Got
· Pope John XXII (1316-1334): Jacques d'Euse
· Pope Benedict XII (1334-1342): Jacques Fournier
· Pope Clement VI (1342-1352): Pierre Roger
· Pope Innocent VI (1352-1362): Stephen Aubert
· Pope Urban V (1362-1370): Guillaume de Grimoard
· Pope Gregory XI (1370-1378): Pierre Roger de Beaufort
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
Scientists
· 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 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
· Jean-Marie Lehn -- chemist, Nobel prize winner in 1987
· Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist
· Antoine Lévi-Leblond -- physicist
· Albert Matthiez -- historian
· André Michaux -- botanist and explorer
· Jules Michelet -- historian
· 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 -- 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
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
Sportsmen and -women
· Tariq Abdul-Wahad -- NBA player (born Olivier Saint-Jean)
· Louis Acaries -- boxer, former world title challenger, now promoter
· Jacques Anquetil -- cyclist
· Fabien Barthez -- football player
· Louison Bobet -- cyclist
· Surya Bonaly - figure skater
· 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
· Emile Delahaye -- race car pioneer
· Marcel Desailly -- Ghana born French citizen, football player
· David Douillet -- judo
· Laurent Fignon -- cyclist
· Lucien Gaudin -- fencer
· Thierry Henry -- football player
· Bernard Hinault -- cyclist
· Constant Huret -- cyclist
· Olivier Jacque -- motorcycle rider
· Rene Jacquot -- boxer, underdog who became world champion
· Laurent Jalabert -- cyclist
· Jean-Claude Killy -- skier
· Suzanne Lenglen -- tennis player
· Bixente Lizarazu - football player
· Jeannie Longo -- cyclist
· Laure Manaudou -- swimmer
· Amelie Mauresmo -- tennis player
· Jose Meiffret -- cyclist
· Alain Mimoun -- athlete
· Antoine Monteiro -- boxer, lost to Santos Laciar for the world title
· Carole Montillet -- skier
· Yannick Noah -- tennis player
· Tony Parker -- Belgian born French citizen, NBA player
· Marie-José Perec -- athlete
· Mary Pierce-- Canadian born French citizen, tennis player
· Julien Pillet -- fencer
· Michel Platini -- football player
· Alain Prost -- automobile racer
· 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 -- cyclist
· Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver
· Zinédine Zidane -- football player
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
· André the Giant, professional wrestler
· Paul Bocuse -- Chief cook
· 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
· Marcel Deprez, electrical engineer
· Alfred Dreyfus
· René Dumont -- agronomist engineer and sociologist and ecology activist
· Jules Dumont d'Urville
· Marguerite Durand -- journalist and feminist leader
· Maurice Duverger -- jurist
· Gustave Eiffel -- engineer
· Pierre Charles L'Enfant -- planned Washington, D.C.
· Marquis de la Fayette -- military leader in the American Revolution
· Ferdinand Foch -- general
· Paul Héroult -- inventor
· Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans, designed the first steamship in 1783
· René Lalique -- artist
· Charles Leclerc -- general
· 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"
· Philippe Starck - designer
· Vauban - engineer