Who’s Who
Regardless of Justification, France has produced some remarkable people. Here is a brief list of 26 interesting people on whom you might want to read up! I decided to pick an interesting eclectic mix of personality (from Popes to criminals) versus an all encompassing list.
A
Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431)
A young peasant girl, Joan of Arc helped inspire the Dauphin of France to defeat English forces occupying France. She was burnt at the stake by the Church for heresy. Seven years after her death, France was liberated as she predicted.
B
Brigitte Bardot (1934 – )
French former actress, singer and fashion model, at the height of her career she was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of the time. From 1969, her image was used in representing Marianne, the symbol of France. After retiring from acting she became an animal rights activist.
C
Coco Chanel (1883 – 1971)
One of the most innovative fashion designers, Coco Chanel was instrumental in defining feminine style and dress during the 20th Century, especially in the 1920s, where she helped women to dress in more practical clothes.
D
Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician. Descartes made a significant contribution to the philosophy of rationalism. Descartes’ Meditations was groundbreaking because he was willing to doubt previous certainties and tried to prove their validity through logic. Later empiricists disagreed with Descartes methods, but his philosophy opened up many topics to greater discussion. Although Descartes ‘proved’ the existence of God, his doubt was an important step in promoting reason over faith. Descartes also made significant discoveries in analytical geometry, calculus and mathematics.
E
Gustave Eiffel (1832 – 1923)
Civil engineer and architect who built the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel also built many railway viaducts in the railway boom years.
F
Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924)
French composer of the late Romantic period. Fauré composed intimate Chamber music and many compositions for the piano. Famous works include Pavane and Requiem, and piano pieces, such as “Clair de lune” (“Moonlight”) Op. 46 No 2.
G
Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970)
Leader of the free French during WWII. De Gaulle helped maintain French pride after the surrender of France and the creation of Vichy France. Helped create the Fifth Republic and was President 1959–1969.
H
Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885)
Perhaps the greatest French author. Noted for his poetry and novels. His novels include Les Miserables (1862), and Notre-Dame de Paris (1831). Also became a leading republican.
I
Eugène Ionesco (1909 – 1994)
Romanian-born French dramatist whose one-act “antiplay” La Cantatrice chauve(1949; The Bald Soprano) inspired a revolution in dramatic techniques and helped inaugurate the Theatre of the Absurd. Elected to the Académie Française in 1970, Ionesco remains among the most important dramatists of the 20th century.
J
Max Jean (1943 – )
French former racing driver who won the Formule France championship in 1968. In addition to numerous Formula Two and Formula Three entries, Jean participated in one Formula One Grand Prix, driving a March for Frank Williams Racing Cars in his home race on 4 July 1971. He scored no championship points.
K
Mathieu Kassovitz (1967 -)
French director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and actor probably best known in Francophone countries for his role as Nino Quincampoix in Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain; 2001). Kassovitz is also the founder of MNP Entreprise, a film production company.
L
Jeannie Longo (1958 – )
Nine times World Road race cycling champion, over the period 1985 to 2001. Gold in 1996 Olympics. Longo was one of the greatest female cyclists of all time and one of France’s most successful Olympians.
M
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
French impressionist painter. Monet was the leading impressionist of the Nineteenth/early Twentieth Century. His paintings, such as Waterlilies, were highly influential in the development of modern art.
N
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)
A French military and political leader. He safeguarded aspects of the French revolution by assuming control of France. He launched military campaigns across Europe making France the dominant power in Europe and helping to spread certain ideas of the French revolution, such as his Napoleonic code.
O
Obélix (1959 -)
A rather strong but overweight Gaulish villager, the sidekick of Astérix in the eponymous bande dessinée or cartoon series.
P
Charles Pathé (1863 – 1957)
French pioneer motion-picture executive who controlled a vast network of production and distribution facilities that dominated the world film market during the first years of the 20th century.
Q
François Quesnay (1694 – 1774)
Leading figure of the Physiocrats, generally considered to be the first school of economic thinking. They wanted the government of Louis XV, who ruled France from 1715 to 1774, to deregulate and reduce taxes on French agriculture so that poor France could emulate wealthier Britain, which had a relatively laissez-faire policy. Quesnay coined the term “laissez-faire, laissez-passer.”
R
August Renoir (1841 – 1919)
French painter, one of the early pioneers of impressionism. Also influenced by Italian renaissance. Famous works include The Theater Box (1874), and The Swing (La Balançoire),1876.
S
Bernadette Soubirous (1844 – 1879)
Peasant girl from Lourdes who reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary. Later became nun Marie Bernard and was canonized after her death.
T
Paul Touvier (1915 – 1996)
The only Frenchman to be convicted of war crimes against humanity and for half a century a troubling reminder of his country’s ambivalence about World War II.
U
Pope Urban II (1035 – 1099)
Head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity.
V
Voltaire (1694 – 1778)
Full name Fis rançois-Marie Aroue but he was better know by his nom de plume Voltaire. He was a French writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit, satire, and defence of civil liberties. He sought to defend freedom of religious and political thought, and played a major role in the Enlightenment period of the Eighteenth Century. His satire helped ferment opinion to support a revolution.
W
Roger Walkowiak (1927 – 2017)
Walkowiak’s Tour victory was among the most surprising in the history of the race and the expression ‘un Tour à la Walko’ would pass into the popular lexicon in France to suggest an unexpected or even undeserved win, though it is usually overlooked that the 1956 Tour was the fastest to that point, at an average speed in excess of 36kph.
X
Louis XIV (1638 – 1715) ‘The Sun King’
King of France from (1643 – 1715) who ruled his country, principally from his great palace at Versailles, during one of its most brilliant periods and who remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age. Internationally, in a series of wars between 1667 and 1697, he extended France’s eastern borders at the expense of the Habsburgs and then, in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 – 14), engaged a hostile European coalition in order to secure the Spanish throne for his grandson.
Y
Michèl Yost (1754 – 1786)
Famous French clarinetist and cofounder of the French clarinet school. He was a brilliant instrumentalist and even known beyond the boundaries of France. Joseph Beer (1744–1811) was Yost’s teacher. Yost himself was a clarinet teacher counting famous clarinetists such as Xavier Lefèvre amongst his pupils.
Z
Zinedine Zidane (1971 – )
Professional footballer in 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Cup winning team.
Cites Uses:
Where Are They Now? France’s 1998 World Cup Winners
