2007 in France

Incumbents

• President: Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy
• Prime Minister: Dominique de Villepin, François Fillon

  Events

• 5 January – Citroën officially launches the Citroën C4 Picasso range of MPV's.
• 1 March – Airbus announces that it will cease work indefinitely on the A380F freight aircraft.
• 22 April – The first round of the presidential election takes place.
• 6 May – Nicolas Sarkozy is elected President, defeating Ségolène Royal with 53% of the vote in the Presidential Election.
• 16 May – Sarkozy officially becomes President after taking over from Jacques Chirac.
• 10 June – The first round of Legislative elections is held.
• 15 June – The all-new Renault Twingo goes on sale in France as well as Italy, Slovenia and the rest of Europe. The old Twingo is set to cease production on 28 June.
• 17 June – The second round of Legislative elections is held.
• 15 July – Vélib' bicycle-sharing system introduced in Paris.
• 24–25 October – Grenelle de l'Environnement Conferences.
• 30 October – 2007 Zoé's Ark controversy: Six members of charity organization Zoé's Ark are formally charged by the government of Chad for child abduction.
• 2 November: In Strasbourg the Tomi Ungerer Museum opens.
• 25 November – Riots continue for a second night in Val-d'Oise, following the death of two youths in a motorcycle collision with a police vehicle.
• 6 December – A pipe bomb explodes in a law office in Paris, killing one person.
• 26 December – Six members of the Zoé's Ark group are convicted and sentenced to eight years of forced labour, although they will be able to serve the time in France.

  Births

Deaths

January

• 9 January – Jean-Pierre Vernant, historian and anthropologist.
• 11 January – Solveig Dommartin, actress.
• 13 January – Henri-Jean Martin, historian of the book and printing.
• 15 January – Colette Caillat, professor of Sanskrit and comparative grammar.
• 20 January – Éric Aubijoux, motorcycle racer.
• 22 January – Abbé Pierre, priest and founder of Emmaus movement.
• 24 January – Jean-François Deniau, statesman, diplomat, essayist and novelist.
• 26 January – Charles Brunier, convicted murderer and veteran of the First and Second World Wars who claimed to have been the inspiration for Papillon.
• 26 January – Jean Ichbiah, computer scientist.
• 27 January – Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, philosopher, literary critic, and translator.

  February

• 2 February – Gisèle Pascal, actress.
• 5 February – Liliane Ackermann, community leader, writer, and lecturer.
• 17 February – Jean Duvignaud, novelist and sociologist.
• 17 February – Maurice Papon, Vichy government official, prefect of police of Paris.

  March

• 1 March – Colette Brosset, actress, writer and choreographer.
• 2 March – Henri Troyat, author, biographer, historian and novelist.
• 6 March – Jean Baudrillard, philosopher and sociologist.
• 6 March – Pierre Moinot, novelist.
• 13 March – Nicole Stéphane, actress, producer and director.
• 14 March – Lucie Aubrac, World War II Resistance fighter.
• 14 March – Roger Beaufrand, Olympic gold medal winning cyclist.
• 15 March – Jean Talairach, neurosurgeon.

  April

• 9 April – Alain Etchegoyen, philosopher and novelist.
• 11 April – Loïc Leferme, free diver.
• 12 April – Pierre Probst, cartoonist.
• 14 April – René Rémond, historian and political economist.
• 17 April – Raymond Kaelbel, international soccer player.
• 19 April – Jean-Pierre Cassel, actor.
• 30 April – Grégory Lemarchal, singer.

  May

• 18 May – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, physicist and the Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 1991.
• 30 May – Jean-Claude Brialy, actor and director.
• 30 May – Emmanuel Hostache, bobsledder.

  June

• 12 June – Guy de Rothschild, banker.
• 26 June – Lucien Hervé, photographer.

  July

• 3 July – Claude Pompidou, philanthropist, wife of President of France Georges Pompidou.
• 5 July – Régine Crespin, opera singer.
• 22 July – Jean Stablinski, racing cyclist.
• 29 July – Michel Serrault, actor.
• July – François Bruhat, mathematician.

  August

• 5 August – Henri Amouroux, historian and journalist.
• 5 August – Jean-Marie Lustiger, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris and Cardinal.
• 5 August – Janine Niépce, photographer.
• 6 August – Élie de Rothschild, banker.
• 10 August – Jean Rédélé, automotive pioneer, pilot and founder of automotive brand Alpine.
• 11 August – Maurice Boitel, painter.
• 21 August – Caroline Aigle, first woman fighter pilot in the French Air Force.
• 25 August – Raymond Barre, politician and economist, Prime Minister.
• 29 August – Pierre Messmer, Gaullist politician and Prime Minister.

  September

• 8 September – Jean-François Bizot, journalist and writer.
• 14 September – Jacques Martin, television presenter and producer.
• 15 September – Marie-Simone Capony, teacher, fifth-oldest person in the world.
• 19 September – Maia Simon, actress.
• 22 September – André Gorz, journalist and social philosopher.
• 22 September – Marcel Marceau, mime artist.
• 28 September – René Desmaison, mountaineer, climber and alpinist.

  October

• 1 October – Bernard Delaire, last French naval veteran of the First World War.
• 5 October – Alexandra Boulat, photographer.
• 13 October – Bob Denard, mercenary.
• 14 October – Raymond Pellegrin, actor.
• 22 October – Ève Curie, author and writer, daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie.
• 24 October – Jules Bigot, soccer player and manager.
• 29 October – Christian d'Oriola, Olympic gold medal winning foil fencer.

  November

• 3 November – Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham.
• 16 November – Pierre Granier-Deferre, film director.
• 19 November – André Bettencourt, Resistance fighter, politician and Minister.
• 22 November – Maurice Béjart, choreographer who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne.
• 28 November – Fred Chichin, musician and songwriter.
• 30 November – François-Xavier Ortoli, politician, businessman, Minister and President of the European Commission.

  December

• 13 December – Philippe Clay, mime artist, singer and actor.
• 13 December – Alain Payet, adult film director.
• 15 December – Jean Bottéro, historian.
• 16 December – Serge Vinçon, politician.
• 22 December – Julien Gracq, writer.
• 22 December – Lucien Teisseire, road bicycle racer.

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