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Mar 14, 2022 · When you think of famous French people in history, the following come to mind: Napoleon Bonaparte (famous military leader), Joan of Arc (famous French heroine), and Louis XIV (known as France’s most famous king). This article will cover the best known French people throughout history ranging from military leaders, artists, scientists, authors ...
- Famous French People in Fashion Industry
- Popular French People in Hollywood
- Famous French People in History and Politics
- Famous French People in Literature
- Well-Known French People in Science
- Famous French People in Arts
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- Popular French People in Sports
1. Chanel
Coco became interested in fashion when she was about 18 years old. It all began in 1909. She was the mistress of a businessman named Étienne Balsan at the time, who helped her launch a hat-making firm in Paris in 1910. She went on to open more boutiques in Deauville and Biarritz, as well as start making and selling garments. Coco Chanel, a true style hero of the 1920s, was recognized for her modest but sophisticated clothes, accented with wonderful accessories. In 1921, she introduced the Cha...
2. Dior
Christian Dior was born in Granville, a small town on France’s Normandy coast, in 1905. As a child, he was always interested in art and aspired to be an architect. Christian founded a small art gallery with the aid of his father after graduation in 1928. Christian’s art gallery, however, was forced to close due to the Great Depression. To supplement his income, he began working for fashion designer Robert Piquet. Following his military duty in 1940, he was offered a job working for fashion de...
3. Rene Lacoste
When a well-known tennis player becomes a designer, the public expects something genuinely exceptional, which is exactly what we got with Lacoste. Rene Lacoste did not follow typical on-court fashion, and his sportswear reflected this. He rejected the formal shirts in favor of short-sleeved knit shirts, which he later manufactured. Lacoste shirts, with their trademark crocodile insignia on the left breast, were introduced to the American market in 1950. Since then, the brand has never looked...
6. Vincent Cassel
Cassel is the son of journalist Sabine Litique and actor Jean-Pierre Cassel and was born in Paris, France. One of Cassel’s earliest on-screen performances was in a 1994 Renault Clio commercial that was broadcast in the United Kingdom. Cassel had his debut in Mathieu Kassovitz’s critically praised film “La Haine” (1995), in which he played a troubled adolescent living in the slums of Paris. His roles in “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen”, as well as “Eastern Promises”, “Black Swan” and “J...
7. Marion Cotillard
Marion was born into a family of actors, so acting came naturally to her. Her early films featured her in minor roles, but she gradually gained the attention of filmmakers and progressed to starring roles. She attracted audiences in both Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” and the French film “A Very Long Engagement” in the United States. Her outstanding performance as legendary French singer Edith Piaf in the biopic “La Vie en Rose” earned her an Academy Award nomination, while her performance in “Rust...
8. Eva Green
Paris-born Eva began her career as an actor in theater productions. As a theater actress, she earned a nomination for the Nuit des Molières, France’s annual national theatre awards ceremony. Bernardo Bertolucci, an Italian filmmaker, and screenwriter, took notice of her and cast her in his film ‘The Dreamers,’ giving her a prominent role. Eva Green went on to star in blockbuster films including James Bond’s ‘Casino Royale’, ‘300: Rise of an Empire’, and ‘Spectre’, directed by Tim Burton. She...
13. Jeanne d’Arc
Long before Joan of Arc was canonized in the Vatican, she had already been a folk saint among French Catholics and soldiers. But who was Joan of Arc? Nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans,” Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, France, in 1412 to poor but pious tenant farmers. As a child, she had mystical visions encouraging her to piety. These visions became more vivid over time with St. Michael and St. Catherine designating her as the savior of France. At age 18, Joan of Arc led the French army to vict...
14. Marie-Antoinette
Marie Antoinette was the queen consort of Louis XVI, the last king of France. Born Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna von Österreich-Lothringen in 1755 in Vienna, Austria, she was only 14 years old when she married Louis XVI. She was not very popular as a queen, with her dismissal of reform and resistance to the French Revolution leading to the monarchy’s overthrow in 1792. Marie-Antoinette was accused and declared guilty of plunder, conspiracy against the State, and high treason. She was sentenced...
15. Simone de Beauvoir
Born in Paris, France, in 1908, Simone de Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, and autobiographies as well as monographs on philosophy, social issues, and politics. She had a significant influence on the feminist movement. She was also most known for having been the French philosopherJean-Paul Sartre’s partner until his death. Simone de Beauvoir died in 1986 and is buried next to Sartre at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.
18. Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo is regarded as one of France’s greatest poets and the most important of the French Romantic writers. He is better known abroad, however, thanks to his novels – The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables. These two books are some of the best French novelsthat have been adapted to movies and plays. With his literary career spanning more than 60 years, Hugo also became a politician who was internationally renowned for his advocacy to abolish the death penalty. Victor Hugo died in...
19. Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas penned some 100,000 pages over his lifetime, which include novels, plays, magazine articles, and even travel books. However, he is most celebrated for his two historical adventure novels, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Another thing that sets Dumas apart from his contemporaries is his partial African ancestry, which he was proud of. His paternal grandmother was an African slave. READ MORE:Facts About Alexandre Dumas
20. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is best remembered for his posthumously published novella, Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), which has been translated into 300 languages and considered one of the best French books to read. He was a laureate of various of France’s highest literary awards and was also a recipient of the United States National Book Award. Saint-Exupéry had achieved fame in France as an aviator prior to his literary works. He disappeared and is believed to have died during a reconnai...
21. Marie Curie
Born Marie Salomea Skłodowska in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867, Marie Curie moved to Paris, France, to earn her higher degrees at the age of 24. There she married the French physicist Pierre Curie, becoming a French citizen. She shared the Nobel Prizein Physics with her husband and the physicist Henri Becquerel in 1903 for their theory of radioactivity and became the first woman to win Nobel Prize. She won another Nobel Prize eight years later, this time in Chemistry for her discovery of the elemen...
22. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
One of France’s Nobel Awardees, virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was born in 1947 in Paris. Her interest in science started at a very young age. Miss Barré-Sinoussi and her mentor, Luc Montagnier, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for their discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of AIDS. In addition to her Nobel Prize, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi has also received numerous awards, including honorary Doctor of Science and Doctor of Medicin...
23. Claude Monet
Claude Monet is the most well-known French painter of all time. His water lilies are famous all over the world and are taught in elementary schools all around the world. Claude Monet is primarily known for being the father of impressionism. In addition, Claude Monet was the main force behind this artistic revolution. He was also the movement’s most steadfast practitioner. The term comes from a painting he painted called “Impressionism, Sunrise,” which is widely regarded as one of the most fam...
24. Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a prolific artist and one of Impressionist era’s most prominent painters. Later, he drifted away from the movement and turned to classical art. Renoir’s paintings of ladies, changing Parisian society, and home scenes, as well as nudes and dance paintings, are among his most famous works. His paintings are known for their vivid light and saturated color, and they frequently feature people in intimate and honest settings. Renoir’s Impressionist compositions are renowne...
25. Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse’s work includes printmaking, sculpture, and collage, in addition to painting. Henri Matisse is considered one of the most significant figures in modern art, alongside Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. He used a wide range of media in his work. Sculptures, paper cutouts, and other forms of art are among them. He is well renowned for his paintings, which are considered masterpieces. Matisse was a leader of the Fauvism movement, a powerful art movement that lasted only a few years...
26. Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy was born in the suburb of Seine-et-Oise, France, in 1862. He began learning the piano at the age of seven and was studying at the Conservatoire de Paris by the age of ten. Debussy’s compositional approach is generally referred to as impressionist after the 19th-century art movement, despite his dislike for the word. Debussy composed many well-known works, but “Clair de Lune” for solo piano is perhaps his most recognized contribution to classical music. “Suite Bergamasque,” “Deu...
27. Charles Aznavour
Known as the French Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour was also a prolific songwriter who penned more than a thousand songs in several languages. His most popular songs are Après l’Amour, Yesterday, When I Was Young (Hier Encore), She (Tous Les Visages De L’amour), You’ve Let Yourself Go (Tu T’Laisses Aller). He also received several awards which include Legion of Honour (1997, 2001, and 2004), Grand Medal from the French Academy (1995), and Edison Awards (three-time award winner). The themes an...
28. Edith Piaf
A true embodiment of her stage name Piaf, which translates to “sparrow,”, the power and emotion in Edith’s voice made her one of France’s most famous singers. To this day, she is still well-known in France and around the world for her love songs and probably, her most popular song up to this day – the La Vie en Rose. La Vie en Rose also won her the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Her distinct voice is just half of what made her such an icon and of the most popular French womenup to this day. Miss...
29. Thierry Henry
Famous as: a footballer and professional football coach.; one of the greatest strikers in the history of football. Henry, France’s all-time leading scorer, is considered one of the game’s best attackers. Under Arsène Wenger, he began his football career with Monaco’s junior team. Following the year 2000, Henry shifted to striker and quickly established himself as one of Europe’s most feared players. After that, he went to Arsenal and then to Barcelona, where he helped his team win the Champio...
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) Born in Corsica to a minor Italian noble family, a man named Napoleon Bonaparte rose quickly through the ranks of the French Army.
- Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431) In the midst of the 100 years’ war between England and France, a young maid named Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) would become the woman to capture the imagination of France.
- Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) Marie Sklodowska moved to Paris as a young woman, which is where she met her husband, a French physicist named Pierre Curie.
- René Descartes (1596 – 1650) René Descartes was a famous French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who invented analytical geometry, linking the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra.
- Coco Chanel. Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chane, born on August 19, 1883, was a renowned French designer and the founder of the high-end fashion brand Chanel.
- Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton’s designs became popular amongst the elite during the reign of Napoleon III. Napoleon commissioned Louis to create special luggage for his wife to pack and transport her “fashions.”
- Constance Jablonski. The French model Constance Jablonski was born on April 17, 1991, in Lille, France. Her birthnames are Constance Marie Jeanine Jablonski.
- Claude Monet. Oscar-Claude Monet was one of the most famous French painters of his time. This prominent artist was the founder of impressionist painting, which many consider a crucial precursor to modernism, especially in his approach to painting nature as his brilliant mind perceived it.
Dec 20, 1998 · Browse on to discover many more fascinating details about the famous people of France. 173.6K Votes. 81.3K Votes. Find out more about the greatest French people, including André the Giant, Zinedine Zidane, Emmanuel Macron, Karl Marx and Arsène Wenger.
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Aug 18, 2023 · 1. Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Victor-Marie Hugo famously known as Victor Hugo is one of the most important people in French history and the literary world. He wrote poems, novels, plays, short stories, and novellas.
Mar 8, 2021 · A study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology identified the best known French, but fame is not the same as greatness. And then there are the various lists of top French kings, French inventors, French writers, etc. For my list, I considered who has had the greatest influence on France—usually positive, but sometimes negative.
