Famous People from France

99 notable historical figures from France, including leaders, artists, scientists, and other influential people.

Napoleon

1769 – 1821

French military leader, French Emperor 1804–1814 and again in 1815 (1769–1821)

Born August 15

Victor Hugo

1802 – 1885

French novelist, poet, dramatist and politician (1802–1885)

Born February 26

Voltaire

1694 – 1778

French writer, historian and philosopher (1694–1778)

Born November 21

René Descartes

1596 – 1650

French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (1596–1650)

Born March 31

Marie Curie

1867 – 1934

Polish-French physicist and chemist (1867–1934)

Born November 7

François Hollande

1954 – Present

President of France from 2012 to 2017 (born 1954)

Born August 12

Oscar Wilde

1854 – 1900

Irish poet, playwright, and aesthete (1854–1900)

Born October 16

Charles de Gaulle

1890 – 1970

French general and statesman (1890–1970)

Born November 22

George Orwell

1903 – 1950

British writer and journalist (1903–1950)

Born June 25

Louis Pasteur

1822 – 1895

French chemist and microbiologist (1822-1895)

Born December 27

Albert Camus

1913 – 1960

French philosopher, author, and journalist (1913–1960)

Born November 7

James Joyce

1882 – 1941

Irish novelist and poet (1882–1941)

Born February 2

Frédéric Chopin

1810 – 1849

Polish composer and pianist (1810–1849)

Born March 1

Le Corbusier

1887 – 1965

Swiss-French architect, designer, urbanist, and writer (1886–1965)

Born October 6

Jean-Paul Sartre

1905 – 1980

French existentialist philosopher (1905–1980)

Born June 21

Emmanuel Macron

1977 – Present

president of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017

Born December 21

Nicolas Sarkozy

1955 – Present

23rd president of the French Republic from 2007 to 2012

Born January 28

Sarah Bernhardt

1844 – 1923

French stage actress, painter and sculptor (1844–1923)

Born October 23

Marcel Proust

1871 – 1922

French novelist, critic and essayist (1871–1922)

Born July 10

Simone de Beauvoir

1908 – 1986

French philosopher, social theorist and activist (1908–1986)

Born January 9

Charles Baudelaire

1821 – 1867

French poet and critic (1821–1867)

Born April 9

Honoré de Balzac

1799 – 1850

French novelist and playwright (1799–1850)

Born May 20

Alexandre Dumas

1802 – 1870

French writer and dramatist (1802–1870)

Born July 24

Heinrich Heine

1797 – 1856

German poet, writer and literary critic (1797–1856)

Born December 13

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

1900 – 1944

French writer and aviator (1900–1944)

Born June 29

Émile Zola

1840 – 1902

French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet (1840–1902)

Born April 2

Igor Stravinsky

1882 – 1971

Russian composer (1882–1971)

Born June 17

Octave Mirbeau

1848 – 1917

French writer, art critic and journalist (1848–1917)

Born February 16

Anatole France

1844 – 1924

French writer (1844–1924)

Born April 16

Jacques Chirac

1932 – 2019

President of France from 1995 to 2007

Born November 29

Guy de Maupassant

1850 – 1893

French writer (1850-1893)

Born August 5

Brigitte Bardot

1934 – 2025

French actress, singer, animal rights activist (1934–2025)

Born September 28

Jean de La Fontaine

1621 – 1695

French poet, fabulist and writer (1621–1695)

Born July 8

Zinedine Zidane

1972 – Present

French association football player and manager (born 1972)

Born June 23

Georges Pompidou

1911 – 1974

President of France from 1969 to 1974

Born July 5

André Gide

1869 – 1951

French author and Nobel laureate (1869–1951)

Born November 22

Avril Lavigne

1984 – Present

Canadian singer and songwriter (born 1984)

Born September 27

Samuel Beckett

1906 – 1989

Irish writer (1906–1989)

Born April 13

Mikhail Bakunin

1814 – 1876

Russian revolutionary anarchist and philosopher (1814–1876)

Born May 30

George Sand

1804 – 1876

French novelist and memoirist (1804–1876)

Born July 1

François Mitterrand

1916 – 1996

21st President of the French Republic from 1981 to 1995 (1916–1996)

Born October 26

Thomas Paine

1737 – 1809

American Founding Father, philosopher, and political activist (1737–1809)

Born February 9

Hector Berlioz

1803 – 1869

French composer and conductor (1803–1869)

Born December 11

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

1780 – 1867

French painter (1780–1867)

Born August 29

Paul Gauguin

1848 – 1903

French painter and printmaker (1848–1903)

Born June 7

Maximilien Robespierre

1758 – 1794

French revolutionary lawyer and politician (1758–1794)

Born May 6

Marie Antoinette

1755 – 1793

last Queen of France prior to the French Revolution (1755–1793)

Born November 2

Charlotte Rampling

1946 – Present

British actress (born 1946)

Born February 5

Joseph Fourier

1768 – 1830

French mathematician and physicist (1768 – 1830)

Born March 21

Auguste Comte

1798 – 1857

French philosopher, mathematician and sociologist (1798–1857)

Born January 19

Pierre Curie

1859 – 1906

French physicist (1859–1906)

Born May 15

Henri Poincaré

1854 – 1912

French mathematician, physicist and engineer (1854–1912)

Born April 29

Giuseppe Garibaldi

1807 – 1882

Italian general, patriot and republican (1807–1882)

Born July 4

Claude Debussy

1862 – 1918

French classical composer (1862–1918)

Born August 22

George Clooney

1961 – Present

American-French actor and filmmaker (born 1961)

Born May 6

Napoleon III

1808 – 1873

President of the Second French Republic, Emperor of the Second French Empire and last monarch of France (1808–1873)

Born April 20

Antoine Lavoisier

1743 – 1794

French nobleman and chemist (1743–1794)

Born August 26

Louis XVI of France

1754 – 1793

King of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1791, then King of the French from 1791 to 1792 (1754-1793)

Born August 23

Pierre-Simon Laplace

1749 – 1827

French mathematician and astronomer (1749–1827)

Born March 23

Émile Durkheim

1858 – 1917

French sociologist (1858–1917)

Born April 15

Sully Prudhomme

1839 – 1907

French poet, Nobel prize for literature winner 1901 (1839–1907)

Born March 16

Michel Foucault

1926 – 1984

French philosopher (1926–1984)

Born October 15

Emma Goldman

1869 – 1940

Russian-born American anarchist (1869–1940)

Born June 27

Frédéric Mistral

1830 – 1914

Provençal writer, poet, lexicographer and founder of Le Félibrige (1830–1914)

Born September 8

Ivan Bunin

1870 – 1953

Russian writer and poet (1870–1953)

Born October 22

Eugène Delacroix

1798 – 1863

French painter (1798–1863)

Born April 26

Albert Schweitzer

1875 – 1965

French-German physician, theologian, musician, and philosopher (1875-1965)

Born January 14

Jean Cocteau

1889 – 1963

French writer and filmmaker (1889–1963)

Born July 5

André-Marie Ampère

1775 – 1836

French physicist and mathematician (1775–1836)

Born January 20

Coco Chanel

1883 – 1971

French fashion designer (1883–1971)

Born August 19

Marine Le Pen

1968 – Present

French politician (born 1968)

Born August 5

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

1926 – 2020

French official and politician (1926–2020)

Born February 2

Pierre de Coubertin

1863 – 1937

founder of modern Olympic Games, pedagogue and historian (1863-1937)

Born January 1

Pierre de Fermat

1607 – 1665

French mathematician and lawyer

Born January 1

Milan Kundera

1929 – 2023

Franco-Czechoslovak poet and novelist

Born April 1

William Somerset Maugham

1874 – 1965

English playwright and author (1874–1965)

Born January 25

Alexis de Tocqueville

1805 – 1859

French political thinker and historian, minister of Foreign Affairs (1805-1859)

Born July 29

Edgar Degas

1834 – 1917

French Impressionist artist (1834–1917)

Born July 19

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

1841 – 1919

French painter and sculptor (1841–1919)

Born February 25

Jessica Alba

1981 – Present

American actress (born 1981)

Born April 28