2020 in France

Incumbents

• King – Louis XIX
• Dauphin – Louis XX , Louis XXI

  Events

January

• 3 January - Villejuif stabbing where a man kills one person and wounds two others with a knife before the perpetrator is shot dead by police.
• 18 January - French police call for backup as protesters try to storm a theater where President Emmanuel Macron and his wife are watching The Fly.
• 20 January - Annie Chapelier, member of the National Assembly for Gard's 4th constituency, leaves LREM. She denounces "an above-ground movement, indifferent to the territories" where "little more or less self-proclaimed chiefs" want to be superior to "a mass, insignificant in their eyes, who is asked for blind allegiance and obedience", as well as inaction in the face of the “climate emergency”.
• 24 January - The first cases of COVID-19 are confirmed in France: one in Bordeaux, a Chinese native of Wuhan who lives and works in the Bordeaux region, and two in Paris, a couple of Chinese tourists.

  February

• 7 February - Five new cases of COVID-19, four adults and one child, are announced by the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn. The initial case is a British national returning from Singapore where he stayed from 20 to 23 January. He has arrived in France on January 24 for a four-day stay in the town of Les Contamines-Montjoie before returning to United Kingdom.
• 8 February - Triggering of the Alerte-Enlèvement Device : the plan is launched after the kidnapping of Vanille, a 1-year-old girl by her mother Nathalie, 40, in Angers, on 7 February around 5:30 p.m. His mother is found in Nantes on Sunday 9 February. A few hours later, the public prosecutor of Angers announces that the little girl has been found dead, in a clothing dumpster, and that her mother has admitted to having killed her. It is the first time since the launch of the Alert-Removal Device in France that the abducted child has been found dead.
• 11 February - Death of François André, member of the French National Assembly for Ille-et-Vilaine's 3rd constituency. He is replaced by his substitute.
• 16 February - Resignation of Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Solidarity and Health, following her candidacy for mayor of Paris.
• 21 February - Shutdown of reactor 1 at the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant.
• 28 February - 45th César Awards.
• 29 February - All indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people are banned, over fears of the coronavirus.

  March

• 15 and 22 March - Scheduled dates for the 2020 French municipal elections.
• 21 March - Independence of the XIVth district's Eco-Socialist Republic.

  April

• 4 April - A terrorist knife attack in Romans-sur-Isère resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of five others. The perpetrator was arrested and charged with terrorist crimes.
• 13 April - President Emmanuel Macron makes a television address on coronavirus to the nation viewed by 36.7 million people.

  June

• 11-17 June; 2020 Dijon riots: A 16-year old Chechen in assaulted in Dijon, leading to several violent clashes, including in the Grésilles district.

  July

• 3 July; Prime Minister Édouard Philippe resigns, and is replaced by Jean Castex

  August

• 26 to 30 August - Scheduled date for the 2020 European Athletics Championships to be held in Paris.

  Deaths

January

• January 1
• * Marius Bruat, French football player
• * Michel Celaya, French rugby union player
• January 2 – Élisabeth Rappeneau, French film director and screenwriter
• January 3 – Nathaël Julan, French football player
• January 4
• * Marie-Thérèse Cheroutre, French historian and professor of philosophy
• * Georges Duboeuf, French wine merchant
• January 7
• * André Abadie, French rugby union player
• * Jacques Dessange, French hairdresser
• * Alexandre Matheron, French philosopher
• January 9
• * Jacques de Bauffremont, 8th Duke of Bauffremont and 10th Prince of Marnay
• * Robert Molimard, French doctor and professor
• January 10
• * André Capron, French immunologist and parasitologist
• * Bernard Joly, French politician
• January 11
• * Jean-René Farthouat, French lawyer
• * Alana Filippi, French singer and songwriter
• * Hilarion Vendégou, French politician
• January 12 – Marc Riolacci, French football administrator
• January 13
• * Jean Delumeau, French historian
• * Pierre Lacoste, French marine officer and government official
• * Maurice Moucheraud, French road racing cyclist
• January 14 – Guy Deplus, French clarinetist
• January 19 – Guy Thomas, Belgian-born French songwriter
• January 20 – Gilles Delouche, French scholar of classical literature of the Rattanakosin Kingdom
• January 21 – Sébastien Demorand, French journalist and food critic
• January 25 – Denis Rivière, French painter
• January 26
• * Hubert Mingarelli, French writer
• * Michou, French cabaret artist
• January 26
• * Émile Jung, French chef
• * Norbert Moutier, French publisher and writer
• January 28 – Théo Klein, French lawyer
• January 29
• * Georges-Hilaire Dupont, French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
• * Félix Marcilhac, French art historian
• January 30 – Roger Holeindre, French politician
• January 31
• * Michel Billière, French rugby union player
• * Guy Delcourt, French politician
• * Delphine Forest, French actress

  February

• February 2 – Claire Clouzot, French journalist
• February 3
• * Philippe Adamov, French cartoonist
• * David Kessler, French senior official
• * George Steiner, French author
• February 4
• * Marie-Fanny Gournay, French politician
• * Zwy Milshtein, French painter
• February 5 – Yves Pouliquen, French ophthalmologist
• February 6 – Bruno Léchevin, French trade unionist
• February 7 – Pierre Guyotat, French writer
• February 8
• * Maurice Girardot, French basketball player
• * Robert Massin, French graphic designer
• February 10 – Claire Bretécher, French cartoonist
• February 11
• * François André, French politician
• * Jacques Mehler, French cognitive psychologist
• February 12 – Simone Créantor, French athlete
• February 13
• * Christophe Desjardins, French violist
• * Hubert Boulard, French comics writer and colorist
• February 14 – Gilbert Belin, French politician and sculptor
• February 16 – Graeme Allwright, French singer and songwriter

  March

• March 21 - Marguerite Aucouturier, Czech-born psychoanalyst
• March 26 - Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma, French-Spanish political activist and academic
• March 27 - Jacques F. Acar, Senegal-born doctor

  April

• April 1 – Philippe Malaurie, French lawyer
• April 2 – Arnold Sowinski, French football player
• April 19 – Edmond Baraffe, French football player and manager

  May

• May 13 - Patrick Simon, French politician and proponent of Australia-France relations

  July

• July 25 – Olivia de Havilland, Japanese-born British-American film actress

  Country overviews

• France
• History of France
• History of modern France
• Outline of France
• Government of France
• Politics of France
• Years in France
• Timeline of France history

  Related timelines for current period

• 2020
• 2020 in politics and government
• 2020s