30 most famous people from France throughout history
France is a great country with great people. Many French stars have significantly contributed to world history, especially in science, art, politics, sports, and culture. Who are the most famous people from France worth recognising? Learn more about the French celebrities who have put their country on the global map.
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France is home to some of the world's most famous people. Their fame has grown beyond their borders, and they are forever celebrated worldwide due to their excellence in different areas. The country boasts many talented famous people such as athletes, actors, scientists, artists, fashion designers and more.
Most famous people from France
French celebrities have made a mark on the globe through immense contributions to shaping modern trends in various spheres. Here is a compilation of some of them and what makes them stand out. Otherwise, the list is endless.
Coco Chanel
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Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. She was the first designer to popularise jerseys in women's fashion, using the material for dresses, skirts, sweaters and more. She founded the Chanel Brand. Coco died in January 1971 at the age of 88 years.
Moliere
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Moliere, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, was a renowned French playwright and actor from the 17th century. He revolutionised the theatre scene in France by creating dramatic, funny and extravagant plays, which opened a new doorway for the future of French theatre.
Gustave Eiffel
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Gustave is among the most famous French celebrities who lived between 1832 and 1923. He was an architect and a civil engineer famous for designing the Eiffel Towel, along with several of France's most prominent structures. He is also known to have contributed to designing of New York's Statue of Liberty.
Claude Monet
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He is a famous French painter who achieved fame for innovating the impressionist genre in the 19th century. He travelled to the Mediterranean, where he painted landmarks, landscapes and seascapes such as Bordighera.
Voltaire
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Francois-Marie Arouet (nom de plume Voltaire) was a historian, writer, and philosopher who criticised the Roman Catholic Church, generally Christianity. He advocated for freedom of speech, religion, and separation of church from state.
Claude Debussy
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Claude is among the famous French celebrities. He was one of the most influential musical composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite rejecting the term, Claude was generally viewed as the pioneer in the impressionist category.
Edith Piaf
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Edith, known as The Little Sparrow, is among the most famous female singers ever. She rose to international stardom in the late 1930s for singing ballads. Some of her best tracks included Non, je ne regrette rien, La vie en rose and Milord.
Brigitte Bardot
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Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is one of the most famous French women born on 28 September 1934. She is a prominent animal rights activist, former singer, model, and actress. She gained immense fame following her role in the film And God Created Woman in 1957.
Coluche
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Michel Gerard Joseph Colucci, known by his stage name Coluche, was a humanitarian, actor, and comedian. He was widely known for his provocative wit and bawdy humour. Coluche founded Restaurants of the Heart, a charity that collects money, food and clothes for those in need. He died in 1986 at the age of 42.
Antoinne de Saint-Exupery
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Antoine was a French author, poet, and journalist widely known for writing books such as The Little Prince, The Wisdom of the Sands and The Aviator. He served in the French Air Force as a pilot in World War II. He died in 1944.
Rene Descartes
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Rene is a French mathematician and philosopher. He was regarded as the father of modern philosophy for defining a starting point for extension. He invented analytic geometry and introduced scepticism as an essential part of the scientific method.
Charles de Gaulle
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Charles was a French army officer and statesman who led France in World War II. He also created the Fifth Republic and introduced a new constitution. He later was elected President of the French Republic and the African and Malagasy Community by an electoral college.
Jean-Paul Sarte
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Sarte is among the famous people from France. He was a 20th-century screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and political activist who contributed to existentialist philosophy development and Marxist ideologies. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964 but turned it down.
Louis XIV
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Louis XIV was the king of France between 1643 and 1715. Also called Louis the Great or Sun King, Louis became the king at the age of 4 following the death of his father, Louis XIII. He is known as the longest-reigning French monarch in history and the longest-reigning monarch of any European nation.
Serge Blanco
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Serge was a rugby player nicknamed Pele of Rugby. He played fullback for the French National team and Biarritz Olympique. He has an impressive rugby career record, where he played 93 games for the French national team between 1980 and 1991.
Albert Camus
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Albert was a philosopher, journalist, philosophical essayist and author who was the second youngest Nobel Prize in Literature recipient. He was widely known for writing novels such as The Plague, The Stranger and The Fall. Albert was also recognised for his two philosophical essays'' The Rebel and Myth of Sisyphus.
Micheline Ostermeyer
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Micheline was a concert pianist and a French athlete. She was the first French woman to win three medals in a single Olympic competition. At the Olympic Games of London in 1948, she won three medals in the discus throw, shot put and high jump.
Alfred Dreyfus
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He is one of the famous French people who was a Jewish French army officer. He was convicted of treason in 1894 by a military court-martial and sentenced to life in prison for his alleged crime of passing military secrets to the Germans. This case became a controversial drama in France's modern history called the Dreyfus Affair.
Louis Pasteur
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Louis Pasteur is one of the world's best-known microbiologists. He came up with the food preparation process known as pasteurisation. He is also widely known as a person who developed vaccinations for anthrax and rabies.
Joan of Arc
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Joan is one of history's most famous French people. Nicknamed the Maid of Orleans, she is considered one of history's greatest martyrs and the patron saint of France. She is best known for leading the French against the English in the Hundred Years War at a young age.
Zinedine Zidane
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Zidane is one of the famous French celebrities. He is a former professional football player. He led his country to victories in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. Zidane has earned several awards and honours, including the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Ord'Or. He also won 11 trophies as a Real Madrid coach.
Jacques Cousteau
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Jacques is among the famous people from France. He was a French undersea explorer, photographer, researcher, filmmaker, and conservationist. He is known for inventing diving and scuba devices such as Aqua-Lung. His film Silent World won a Palme d'Ord'Or in 1956 at the Cannes Film Festival.
Napoleon Bonaparte
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Napoleon, also known as Napoleon I, is today widely recognised as one of the greatest military generals in history. He was a military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century.
Maximilien Robespierre
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Maximilien was a lawyer and political leader of the French Revolution, well known for spearheading the Reign of Terror. He became increasingly popular for his advocacy of democratic reforms. He was elected president of the powerful Jacobin political club in April 1970.
Victor Hugo
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An influential essayist, dramatist, poet, playwright of the Romantic Movement and novelist. His work abounds in genres like epics, lyrics, history, diaries, political speeches, epigrams, novels, and satires. His notable works include Les Miserables and Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Catherine Deneuve
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Catherine is one of the famous French actors. Her portrayal of mysterious, aloof, icy beauties in various performances earned her international recognition. Catherine was nominated 14 times for the Caesar Award and won awards for roles in The Last Metro and Indochine.
Didier Claude Deschamps
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The French professional football manager and the former player has managed the French National team since 2012. He was a defensive midfielder for several clubs in Italy, Spain, England, and France. Guided the French National team to the runners-up position in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Marie Curie
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Marie was a physicist and chemist who pioneered the radioactivity field of research. The first woman ever to become a professor and to be awarded a Nobel Prize. She discovered polonium and radium elements using techniques invented to isolate radioactive isotopes.
Thierry Henry
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Thierry is a professional football coach and former player. Bagged runner-up for the Ballon d'Ord'Or (2003) and FIFA World Player of the Year (2004). He was named FWA Footballer of the Year three times, PFA Player of the Year a joint record two times and named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times.
Marie Antoinette
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Maria Antoinette Josepha Johanna was the last French Queen and wife of Louis XVI before the French Revolution. She is among the French personalities known for her lavish lifestyle.
Most famous people from France have done tremendous and laudable things in different fields and deserve worldwide recognition. The above list is just but a few who have excelled in areas such as art, politics, sports and film.
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