List of French people
French people of note include:
Actors
A–C
- Isabelle Adjani
- Renée Adorée
- Anouk Aimée
- Flo Ankah
- Arletty
- Antonin Artaud
- Fanny Ardant
- Jeanne Aubert
- Jean-Louis Aubert
- Jean-Pierre Aumont
- Claude Autant-Lara
- Daniel Auteuil
- Charles Aznavour
- Brigitte Bardot
- Emmanuelle Béart
- Loleh Bellon
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
- François Berléand
- Charles Berling
- Suzanne Bianchetti
- Juliette Binoche
- Bernard Blier
- Sandrine Bonnaire
- Élodie Bouchez
- Bourvil
- Dany Boon
- Angelique Boyer
- Charles Boyer
- Guillaume Canet
- Capucine
- Martine Carol
- Leslie Caron
- Isabelle Carré
- Vincent Cassel
- Jean-Pierre Cassel
- Laetitia Casta
- Robert Clary
- Grégoire Colin
- Marion Cotillard
- Clotilde Courau
- Darry Cowl
D–L
- Béatrice Dalle
- Lili Damita
- Danielle Darrieux
- Alain Delon
- Danièle Delorme
- Julie Delpy
- Catherine Deneuve
- Élisabeth Depardieu
- Gérard Depardieu
- Guillaume Depardieu
- Patrick Dewaere
- Arielle Dombasle
- Michel Drucker
- Morgane Dubled
- Jean Dujardin
- Anny Dupérey
- Romain Duris
- Nicolas Duvauchelle
- Fernandel
- Brigitte Fossey
- Louis de Funès
- Félicité Du Jeu
- Jean Gabin
- Julie Gayet
- Annie Girardot
- Judith Godrèche
- Eva Green
- Sacha Guitry
- Isabelle Huppert
- Irène Jacob
- Claude Jade
- Marlène Jobert
- Valérie Kaprisky
- Mélanie Laurent
- Jean-Pierre Léaud
- Virginie Ledoyen
- Noémie Lenoir
- Max Linder
- Sheryfa Luna
M–Z
- Marcel Marceau
- Sophie Marceau
- Jean Marais
- Jean-Pierre Marielle
- Olivier Martinez
- Jean-Baptiste Maunier
- Miou-Miou
- Mistinguett
- Yves Montand
- Jeanne Moreau
- Michèle Morgan
- Musidora
- Pierre Niney
- Gérard Philipe
- Michel Piccoli
- Clémence Poésy
- Alexia Portal
- Yvonne Printemps
- Pérette Pradier
- Jérôme Pradon
- Rachel ''pseudonym for Elisa-Rachel Félix
- Gabrielle Réjane
- Jean Reno
- Marine Renoir
- Pierre Richard
- Sebastian Roché
- Jean Rochefort
- Béatrice Romand
- Philippine de Rothschild
- Nathalie Roussel
- Michel Roux
- Emmanuelle Seigner
- David Serero
- Léa Seydoux
- Delphine Seyrig
- Simone Signoret
- Audrey Tautou
- Jean-Louis Trintignant
- Marie Trintignant
- Gaspard Ulliel
- Michael Vartan
- Hervé Villechaize
- Lambert Wilson
Architects
- Jacques-François Blondel
- Germain Boffrand
- Étienne-Louis Boullée
- Salomon de Brosse
- Libéral Bruant
- Androuet du Cerceau family
- Le Corbusier pseudonym for Charles Edouard Jeanneret
- Philibert de l'Orme
- Gustave Eiffel
- Pierre François Léonard Fontaine
- Ange-Jacques Gabriel
- Charles Garnier
- Tony Garnier
- Hector Guimard
- Villard de Honnecourt
- Pierre Jeanneret
- Henri Labrouste
- Claude Nicolas Ledoux
- Pierre Lescot
- André Lurçat
- Robert Mallet-Stevens
- François Mansart
- Jules Hardouin Mansart
- Louis Métezeau
- Michel Mimran
- Jean Nouvel
- Charles Percier
- Claude Perrault
- Dominique Perrault
- Auguste Perret
- Christian de Portzamparc
- Jean Prouvé
- Alain Provost
- Henri Sauvage
- Jacques-Germain Soufflot
- Louis Le Vau
- Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Artists
Painters
Photographers
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand
- Brassaï born in Hungary
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Raymond Depardon
- Robert Doisneau
- Pierre Dubreuil
- Jules Gervais-Courtellemont
- Nadar
- Willy Ronis
Sculptors
- Frédéric Bartholdi
- Antoine Bourdelle
- Antonin Carlès
- Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
- César
- Antoine-Denis Chaudet
- Camille Claudel
- Paul Dubois
- Raymond Duchamp-Villon
- Alexandre Falguière
- Jean-Antoine Houdon
- René Iché
- Antonin Idrac
- Antonin Mercié
- Hippolyte Moulin
- Émile Louis Picault
- Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
- Antoine-Augustin Préault
- Auguste Rodin
- François Rude
- Niki de Saint Phalle
- Sacha Sosno
Athletes
A–J
- André the Giant, professional wrestler
- Sarah Abitbol, pairs figure skater ; World Figure Skating Championship bronze
- Tariq Abdul-Wahad, basketball player
- Luc Alphand, Alpine skier
- Jacques Anquetil, cyclist
- Jonathan Assous, France/Israel, defensive midfielder
- Fabien Barthez, football player
- Elliot Benchetrit, tennis player
- Brice Blanc, jockey
- Marion Bartoli, tennis player
- Fabrice Benichou, world-champion super bantamweight boxer
- Stéphane Bernadis, pairs figure skater
- Alain Bernard, Olympic swimmer
- Serge Betsen, Cameroon-born French citizen, rugby player
- Serge Blanco, Venezuela-born French citizen, rugby player
- Jean Bloch, Olympic silver football player
- Louison Bobet, cyclist
- Surya Bonaly, figure skater
- Sébastien Bourdais, Indycar driver
- Andrée Brunet and Pierre Brunet, 1928 and 1932 Olympic skating gold medalists
- Alain Calmat, figure skater, Olympic silver, world championship gold, silver, two-time bronze
- Philippe Candeloro, figure skater
- Eric Cantona, football player
- Georges Carpentier, world-champion boxer
- Marcel Cerdan, world-champion boxer
- François Cevert, Formula One driver
- Eugène Christophe, cyclist
- Albert Clément, motor racing driver
- Robert Cohen, world-champion bantamweight boxer
- Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, tennis player
- Eugène Criqui, world-champion boxer
- Jean Cruguet, jockey of Seattle Slew
- Richard Dacoury, basketball player
- Pierre Darmon, tennis player, highest world ranking #
8 - André Darrigade, cyclist
- Mathieu Debuchy, football player
- Émile Delahaye, race car pioneer
- Marcel Desailly, Ghana-born French citizen, football player
- Abou Diaby, football player
- Boris Diaw, basketball player
- David Douillet, judoka
- Yves Dreyfus, épée fencer, Olympic bronze medal, French champion
- Isabelle Duchesnay and Paul Duchesnay, ice dancers
- Alojzy Ehrlich, Poland, table tennis, 3x won silver and 1x won bronze in the World Championships, incarcerated by the Nazis in Auschwitz, represented France after 1945.
- Andre Ethier, Major League Baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Patrice Evra, football player for Monaco and Manchester United
- André Fabre, horse trainer
- Evan Fournier, basketball player
- Laurent Fignon, cyclist
- Jeremy Flores, surfer
- Just Fontaine, football player
- Jacques Fouroux, rugby union player and coach
- Jessica Fox, French-born Australian, slalom canoer, Olympic silver, world championships bronze
- Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, slalom canoer, Olympic bronze, five golds at ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships
- Pierre Galle, basketball player and coach
- Camille du Gast, race car driver
- Lucien Gaudin, fencer
- Fabien Gilot, Olympic and world champion swimmer
- Yoann Gourcuff, football player
- Stéphane Haccoun, boxer
- Rudy Haddad, soccer midfielder
- Alphonse Halimi, world-champion bantamweight boxer
- Marlène Harnois, taekwondo practitioner
- Thierry Henry, football player
- Bernard Hinault, cyclist
- Jaylen Hoard, basketball player
- Pierre Houseaux, triathlete
- Cristobal Huet, hockey player
- Constant Huret, cyclist
- Olivier Jacque, motorcycle rider
- Rene Jacquot, boxer, underdog who became world champion
- Laurent Jalabert, cyclist
- Max Jean, Formula One driver
- Brian Joubert, figure skater
K–Z
- Jean-Claude Killy, skier
- Raymond Kopa, football player
- Pascal Lavanchy, ice dancer
- Suzanne Lenglen, tennis player
- Alexander Lévy, American-born professional golfer
- Alexandre Lippmann, épée fencer, two-time Olympic champion, two-time silver, bronze
- Bixente Lizarazu, football player
- Sébastien Loeb, rally driver and five-time champion
- Jeannie Longo, cyclist
- André Mahé, cyclist
- Claude Makélélé, football player
- Laure Manaudou, swimmer
- Amélie Mauresmo, tennis player
- Jose Meiffret, cyclist
- Éric Millot, figure skater
- Alain Mimoun, athlete
- Sophie Moniotte, ice dancer
- Carole Montillet, skier
- Armand Mouyal , épée fencer, Olympic bronze, world champion
- Alfred "Artem" Nakache , swimmer, world record, one-third of French two-time world record
- Claude Netter, foil fencer, Olympic champion, silver
- Hellé Nice, pioneer female race car driver
- Joakim Noah, NBA basketball player
- Yannick Noah, tennis player
- Jacques Ochs, French-born Belgian artist and Olympic fencing champion
- Micheline Ostermeyer, Olympic champion in discus and shot put, bronze in high jump
- Simon Pagenaud, Indycar driver
- Tony Parker, Belgian-born French citizen, basketball player
- Gwendal Peizerat, ice dancer
- Marie-José Pérec, athlete
- Mary Pierce, Canadian-born French citizen, tennis player
- Stéphane Peterhansel, car and motor racer, nine-time Dakar Rally winner
- Julien Pillet, fencer
- Michel Platini, football player
- Alain Prost, Formula One driver and four-time champion
- Antoine Rigaudeau, basketball player
- François Rozenthal, ice hockey player
- Maurice Rozenthal, ice hockey player
- Georges Stern , jockey
- Jean Stern, épée fencer, Olympic champion
- Léon Théry, race car driver
- Marcel Thil, world-champion boxer
- Christophe Tiozzo, world-champion boxer; brother of Fabrice Tiozzo
- Fabrice Tiozzo, world-champion boxer; brother of Christophe Tiozzo
- David Trezeguet, football player
- Tristan Vautier, Indycar driver
- Patrick Vieira, Senegal-born French citizen, football player
- Richard Virenque, Morocco-born French citizen, cyclist
- Roger Walkowiak, cyclist
- Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver
- Albert Wolff, French-born American Olympic fencer
- Zinedine Zidane, football player
Authors
A–E
- Marcel Achard
- Alain-Fournier
- Olivier Ameisen
- Jean Anouilh, 20th-century dramatist
- Guillaume Apollinaire
- Louis Aragon
- Antonin Artaud
- Marcel Aymé
- Jean-Louis Baghio'o
- Honoré de Balzac, realist author
- Henri Barbusse
- Charles Baudelaire, 19th-century poet
- Pierre Beaumarchais, comedy playwright
- Simone de Beauvoir, 20th-century author
- Dany Bébel-Gisler
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- Jean Bernabé
- Georges Bernanos
- Tristan Bernard
- Maurice Blanchot
- Antoine Blondin
- Nicolas Boileau
- Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
- Pierre Boulle
- Fernand Braudel
- André Breton
- Retif de la Bretonne
- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
- Michel Butor
- Albert Camus, existentialist author
- Marie-Magdeleine Carbet
- Louis-Ferdinand Céline, 20th-century author
- Blaise Cendrars
- Aimé Césaire, 20th-century poet
- Nicolas Chamfort
- Patrick Chamoiseau
- René Char, 20th-century poet
- François-René de Chateaubriand
- Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- Emil Cioran
- Paul Claudel
- Jean Cocteau, 20th-century poet and playwright
- Colette, 20th-century author
- Maryse Condé
- Raphaël Confiant
- Benjamin Constant
- Tristan Corbière
- Pierre Corneille, classicist playwright
- Marquis de Custine, travel writer
- Joseph Dallois
- Robert Desnos, 20th-century poet
- Charles Dezobry, historian and historical novelist
- Denis Diderot
- Alexandre Dumas, père, author
- Alexandre Dumas, fils, playwright/author
- Marguerite Duras, 20th-century novelist
- Vanessa Duriès
- Paul Éluard
- Salvat Etchart
F–O
- Frantz Fanon, 20th-century author, psychiatrist
- Léon-Paul Fargue
- Georges Feydeau
- Marc Ferro
- Amanda Filipacchi, novelist
- Alain Finkielkraut, essayist
- Gustave Flaubert, realist author
- Anatole France
- Marie de France, poet
- Romain Gary
- Jean Genet
- André Gide, Nobel Prize Winner
- Jean Giono
- Jean Giraudoux
- Françoise Giroud
- Édouard Glissant
- Julien Gracq
- Julien Green
- Pierre Guyotat
- Jean-Edern Hallier
- Auguste Himly, historian
- Victor Hugo, novelist, poet, and playwright
- Joris-Karl Huysmans
- Eugène Ionesco
- Marie-Reine de Jaham
- Alain Jouffroy, poet, art critic, plastician
- Fabienne Kanor
- Jean de La Bruyère
- Jean de La Fontaine
- Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- Comte de Lautréamont
- Leconte de Lisle, parnassian poet
- Alphonse de Lamartine
- Jacques Lacan, psychoanalyst
- Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, historian
- Paul Lafargue
- Jules Laforgue
- Valéry Larbaud
- Maurice Leblanc, created Arsène Lupin
- Gaston Leroux, journalist and author, credited with creating the locked room puzzle mystery novel Le Mystère de la chambre jaune ' and author of Le Fantôme de l'Opéra '
- Stéphane Mallarmé, poet
- Hector Malot, 19th-century author
- André Malraux
- Matthieu Marais, 18th-century lawyer and writer
- Marcel Marceau, 20th-century mime
- René Maran
- Pierre de Marivaux, playwright
- Clément Marot, poet
- Guy de Maupassant, novelist
- François Mauriac, Roman Catholic writer
- Daniel Maximin
- Prosper Mérimée, 19th-century novelist
- Catherine Millet, art expert, editor and erotic memoirist
- Patrick Modiano
- Jean Baptiste Poquelin dit Molière, 17th-century comedic playwright and actor
- Alfred de Musset, 19th-century poet
- Gérard de Nerval
- Paul Niger
- Anaïs Nin
- Mona Ozouf, historian
P–Z
- Marcel Pagnol
- Charles Péguy, 20th-century poet
- Charles Perrault, Mother Goose Tales
- Georges Perec
- Saint-John Perse
- Roger Peyrefitte
- Jean Piaget, psychologist
- Jean Piat
- Gisèle Pineau
- Christine de Pizan, historian, poet, philosopher
- Jacques Prévert, 20th-century poet
- Abbé Prévost
- Marcel Prévost
- Marcel Proust, novelist
- Raymond Queneau
- François Rabelais, Renaissance writer
- Raymond Radiguet
- Jean Racine, classicist playwright
- Pauline Réage, novelist
- Arthur Rimbaud, symbolist poet
- Alain Robbe-Grillet
- Pierre de Ronsard
- Edmond Rostand, neo-romantic playwright
- Raymond Roussel
- Maximilien Rubel
- Marquis de Sade, erotic and philosophic author
- Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
- George Sand, feminist author
- Jean-Paul Sartre, 20th-century existentialist philosopher
- Nathalie Sarraute
- André Schwarz-Bart
- Simone Schwarz-Bart
- Pierre Seel, homosexual survivor of the concentration camps, activist, author
- Victor Segalen
- Madame de Sévigné
- Madame de Staël
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and aviator
- Claude Simon
- Stendhal, novelist
- Alain Tasso, poet, painter, essayist, art critic, literary critic
- Raphaël Tardon
- Guy Tirolien
- François Truffaut, 20th-century filmmaker
- Paul Valéry, 20th-century poet
- Vercors, pseudonym of Jean Bruller
- Paul Verlaine, symbolist poet
- Jules Verne, novelist
- Boris Vian, 20th-century author
- Alfred de Vigny, 19th-century poet
- Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam
- François Villon
- Voltaire
- Myriam Warner-Vieyra
- Marguerite Yourcenar
- Joseph Zobel
- Émile Zola, naturalist author
Aviators
- Clément Ader
- Jacqueline Auriol
- Louis Blériot
- Henri Farman
- René Fonck
- Roland Garros, first to cross the Mediterranean; French Open is named after him.
- Georges Guynemer
- Raymonde de Laroche
- Hubert Latham
- Léon Lemartin
- Marie Marvingt
- Jean Mermoz
- Les Frères Robert, balloonists Anne-Jean Robert and Nicolas-Louis Robert
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author and aviator
- André Turcat
- Gabriel Voisin
Business
- Bernard Arnault, entrepreneur
- Liliane Bettencourt, cosmetics, one of the richest persons in Europe
- Marcel Bich, Bic pens
- Vincent Bolloré, transportation and engineering
- Marcel Boussac, textiles, fashion, newspapers, race horse breeding
- Anne Bouverot, telecommunications business executive
- Ettore Bugatti, automobile manufacturer
- André Citroën, automobile manufacturer
- Adolphe Clément-Bayard entrepreneur manufacturer of bicycles, pneumatic tyres, motorcycles, automobiles, aeroplanes and airships
- Marcel Dassault, aviation
- Alexandre Darracq, automotive pioneer
- Claude Dauphin, commodities trader
- Louis Delâge, automotive pioneer
- Émile Delahaye, automotive pioneer
- Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, agricultural commodities
- Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours, founder of DuPont
- Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, entrepreneur
- Jacques Foccart, import-export
- Léon Gaumont, pioneer film inventor
- Paul-Louis Halley, supermarket tycoon
- Max Hymans, aviation
- Jean-Marie Messier, former Vivendi CEO
- Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO of Suez
- Gérard Mulliez, entrepreneur, whose family is considered as one of the richest in Europe
- Xavier Niel, entrepreneur and businessman Iliad
- Charles Pathé, pioneer of film industry
- Armand Peugeot, automobile manufacturer
- François Pinault, entrepreneur
- Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, shipping magnate and a "Father of the American Revolution"
- Marcel Renault, Co-founder of automobile manufacturer Renault
- James Mayer de Rothschild, banker
- Philippe de Rothschild, wine maker
- Eugène Schueller, founder of L'Oréal
- Bernard Tapie, entrepreneur
Chefs
- Raymond Blanc
- Paul Bocuse
- Daniel Boulud
- Michel Bras
- Pascal Caffet
- Marie-Antoine Carême
- Alain Ducasse
- Adolphe Dugléré
- Auguste Escoffier
- Pierre Gagnaire
- Michel Guérard
- Victor Hirtzler
- Ludovic Lefebvre
- Jacques Pépin
- Georges Perrier
- Fernand Point
- Charles Ranhofer
- Eric Ripert
- Joël Robuchon
- Albert Roux
- Michel Roux
- Michel Roux, Jr.
- Guy Savoy
- François Vatel
- Marc Veyrat
- Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Colonial administrators
- Félix Éboué, Governor General of French Equatorial Africa
- Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, French Congo
- Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, Louisiana
- Samuel de Champlain, New France
- François Caron, first Governor of French territories of India
- François Martin, Governor for French territories in India
- Pierre Christoph Le Noir, Governor for French territories in India
- Pierre Benoît Dumas, Governor for French territories in India
- Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, French naval officer and administrator, in the service of the French East India Company.
- Joseph François Dupleix, Governor for French territories in India
- Lally-Tollendal, Governor for French territories in India
- Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, Governor for French territories in India
- Louis Faidherbe, Senegal
- Joseph Gallieni, Madagascar
- Francis Garnier, French Indochina
- Émile Gentil, French Congo
- Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey, Algeria
- Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, Louisiana
- Jean Talon, Canada
Composers
Criminals
For collaboration with Nazi Germany see also the politicians section.- Jacques de Bernonville, war criminal sentenced to death
- Jules Bonnot
- Émile Louis
- Henri Désiré Landru, serial killer
- Jacques Mesrine
- Zacarias Moussaoui
- Maurice Papon, politician and war criminal
- Marcel Petiot, serial killer
- Gilles de Rais, prolific serial killer
- Jean-Claude Romand, murderer
- Albert Spaggiari
- Charles Sobhraj, killer
- Paul Touvier, one of only two Frenchmen to be convicted of crimes against humanity
Dancers
- Jane Avril
- La Goulue
- Sylvie Guillem
- Marcelle Lender
- Cléo de Mérode
- Antonine Meunier
- Hellé Nice
- François Perron
- Roland Petit
- Les Twins, Larry and Laurent Bourgeois
Economists
- Antoine Augustin Cournot
- Maurice Allais, Nobel Prize
- Raymond Barre, economist and politician
- Frédéric Bastiat
- Fernand Braudel
- Jules Dupuit
- Gérard Debreu, Nobel memorial prize 1983
- Charles Gide
- Dominique Guellec
- Jean-Jacques Laffont
- Pierre Émile Levasseur
- Alain Lipietz, green economist
- Bernard Maris
- Thomas Piketty
- Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
- François Quesnay
- Pascal Salin
- Jean-Baptiste Say
- Jean Tirole
- Turgot
- Léon Walras
Fashion
- Christian Audigier, fashion designer and business man
- Liliane Bettencourt, majority owner of L'Oréal, one of the wealthiest people in Europe
- Pierre Cardin, fashion designer
- Laetitia Casta, model
- Coco Chanel, fashion designer
- Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
- Hubert de Givenchy
- Inès de La Fressange, model and fashion designer
- Christian Dior, fashion designer
- Morgane Dubled, model
- Julien Fournié
- Jean Paul Gaultier
- Daniel Hechter, inventor of ready-to-wear
- Christian Lacroix
- Jeanne Lanvin, fashion designer
- Noémie Lenoir, model
- Christian Louboutin, shoe designer
- Iris Mittenaere, model, Miss France 2016 and Miss Universe 2016
- Jennifer Messelier, model
- Claude Montana
- Thierry Mugler
- Paul Poiret
- Nina Ricci, fashion designer
- Sonia Rykiel
- Yves Saint Laurent, fashion designer
- Hedi Slimane
- Louis Vuitton, fashion designer
Fictional characters
- Astérix, Obelix and Dogmatix , Gaul warriors and their dog
- Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan, Musketeers of the King of France
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- Lestat de Lioncourt, infamous vampire creation of Anne Rice
- Louis de Pointe du Lac, French-born vampire companion of Lestat de Lioncourt
- Jean-Luc Picard, captain of three Federation starships within one television series and four motion pictures
- Le Petit Prince, famous "little prince"
- Erik, The Phantom of the Opera, The "Opera Ghost" who haunted the Palais Garnier
- Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, childhood friend of Christine Daaé and brother of Comte Phillipe; competed for the affections of Christine Daaé with Erik.
- Rastignac, fictional character from La Comédie humaine series of novels by Honoré de Balzac
- Man in the Iron Mask, prisoner who was held in a number of jails, including the Bastille and the Fortress of Pinerolo, during the reign of Louis XIV of France
- Inspector Jacques Clouseau, bumbling French detective, star of the Pink Panther movies
- Inspector Tarconi, bumbling French detective, star of The Transporter movies
- Amélie Poulain, shy but kind-hearted waitress, star of 2001 film Amélie.
- Jean Valjean, protagonist of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables
- Inspector Javert, antagonist of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables
- Le Peregrine – Alain Racine, Superhero in the Marvel Universe
- Tanguy et Laverdure, duet of pilots known as Les Chevaliers du ciel
- Glass Joe, boxer from Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series of boxing video games
- Aiber, professional con-man in the employ of L from popular manga and anime Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Nationally, he is French.
- Pepé Le Pew, character from the Looney Tunes.
Filmmakers
- Olivier Assayas
- Jacques Becker
- Jean-Jacques Beineix
- Luc Besson
- Yves Billon
- Alice Guy-Blaché
- Bertrand Blier
- Patrick Bokanowski
- Catherine Breillat
- Robert Bresson
- Laurent Cantet
- Yves Caumon
- André Cayatte
- Claude Chabrol
- Jean-Paul Civeyrac
- René Clair
- René Clément
- Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Jean Cocteau
- Fabien Cousteau
- Jacques Cousteau
- Jacques Demy
- Claire Denis
- Henri Diamant-Berger
- Abel Gance
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Michel Gondry
- Michel Hazanavicius
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Mathieu Kassovitz
- Jan Kounen
- Patrice Leconte
- Claude Lelouch
- Philippe Lioret
- Louis Malle
- André Malraux
- Georges Méliès
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Maurice Pialat
- Jean Renoir
- Alain Resnais
- Jacques Rivette
- Yves Robert
- Éric Rohmer
- Jean Rollin
- Alain Sarde
- Claude Sautet
- Straub-Huillet
- Jacques Tati
- Jacques Tourneur
- Maurice Tourneur
- François Truffaut
- Roger Vadim
- Agnès Varda
- Jean Vigo
Humorists
- Alain Chabat
- Coluche
- Pierre Dac, humorist and Resistance worker
- Jamel Debbouze
- Pierre Desproges
- Raymond Devos
- Gad Elmaleh
- Florence Foresti
- Thierry Le Luron
- Dieudonné M'bala M'bala
- Elie Semoun
- Cabu
- Stef and Jim
Military leaders
Monarchs and royals
- Charles X
- Charlemagne
- Charles Martel
- Philip IV the Fair
- King Francis I
- King Henry IV
- Louis XIV, the Sun King, reigned 1643–1715
- Henriette Marie, Queen of England, wife of Charles I of England and mother to Charles II and James II
- Philip V of Spain, grandson of Louis XIV through male line, born and bred in France, became King of Spain aged 17
- King Louis XV, reigned 1715–1774
- King Louis XVI, reigned 1774–1792, executed in 1793 in Revolution
- Emperor Napoleon, first to be styled 'Emperor of the French', reigned 1799–1814 and again in 1815
- Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of above
- King Louis Philippe, only monarch styled King of the French; reigned 1830–1848
- Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I, President and Emperor ; last French monarch
- Charles-Marie David de Mayréna I, King of the Kingdom of Sedang
- Henri Marie Jean André, Prince Consort of Denmark, married to Margrethe II of Denmark.
- Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier, Princess of Denmark, married to Prince Joachim of Denmark
Musicians
A–J
- Dominique A
- Air
- Alizée
- Charles Aznavour
- Josephine Baker, American-born entertainer
- Thomas Bangalter, member of Daft Punk
- Jane Bathori, opera singer
- Barbara
- Guy Béart
- Bénabar
- Michel Berger
- Didier Bocquet
- Pierre Bouvier
- Lucienne Boyer
- Georges Brassens
- Breakbot
- Aristide Bruant
- Julie Budet
- Manu Chao
- Sébastien Charlier
- Matthieu Chedid
- Richard Clayderman, pianist
- Chuck Comeau
- Dalida
- Damia
- Claude Debussy
- David Desrosiers
- Natalie Dessay, opera singer
- Dimitri from Paris
- Sacha Distel, heartthrob: covered "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
- Marie Dubas
- Jacques Dutronc
- Kenza Farah
- Mylène Farmer
- Jean Ferrat
- Léo Ferré
- Nino Ferrer
- Thomas Fersen
- Claude François, popular singer during the 1960s and 1970s
- Fréhel
- Charlotte Gainsbourg
- Serge Gainsbourg
- France Gall
- Laurent Garnier
- Gipsy Kings
- Georgius
- Gesaffelstein
- Jean-Jacques Goldman
- Stéphane Grappelli, jazz musician
- Juliette Gréco
- Gribouille
- Hélène Grimaud, classical pianist
- David Guetta, house-music producer and DJ
- Yvette Guilbert
- Arthur H
- David Hallyday
- Johnny Hallyday, born in Belgium, served in the French Army
- Françoise Hardy
- Jacques Higelin
- Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, member of Daft Punk
- Indila
- Sébastien Izambard, member of the quartet Il Divo
- IAM
- Joëlle
- Justice
K–Z
- Patricia Kaas
- Kassav'
- Kavinsky
- Rina Ketty
- Kiki, "Queen of Montparnasse"
- La Goulue
- Larusso
- Boby Lapointe
- Bernard Lavilliers
- Maxime Le Forestier
- Sébastien Lefebvre
- Gérard Lenorman
- Nolwenn Leroy
- Lilly Wood and the Prick
- Claudine Longet
- Didier Lucchesi
- Sheryfa Luna
- M83
- Madeon
- Christophe Maé
- Mano Negra
- Luis Mariano
- Anna Marly
- Alain Marion
- Didier Marouani, musician and composer
- Mireille Mathieu
- Félix Mayol
- Miossec
- Mireille
- Mistinguett
- Ginette Neveu
- Yannick Noah
- Claude Nougaro
- NTM
- Noir Désir
- Vanessa Paradis
- Pierre Perret
- Michel Petrucciani
- Édith Piaf
- Michel Polnareff
- Lily Pons, opera singer
- Rene Rancourt
- Renaud
- Tino Rossi
- Jean Sablon
- David Serero
- Bob Sinclar
- Skip the Use
- Alain Souchon
- Mano Solo
- Jeff Stinco
- Sébastien Tellier
- Yann Tiersen
- Charles Trenet
- Christian Vander
- Sylvie Vartan
- Boris Vian
- Pauline Viardot, opera singer and composer
- Pedro Winter
- Zazie
Philosophers
- Pierre Abélard
- Louis Althusser
- Raymond Aron, sociologist and philosopher
- Jean le Rond d'Alembert
- Gaston Bachelard
- Georges Bataille
- Roland Barthes
- Jean Baudrillard, philosopher and sociologist
- Pierre Bourdieu, sociologist
- Julien Benda
- Henri Bergson
- Émile Boutroux
- Michel de Certeau
- André Comte-Sponville
- Jean de Crèvecœur
- Guy Debord
- Gilles Deleuze
- Jacques Derrida
- René Descartes, scientist and philosopher
- Denis Diderot, Enlightenment author and deist philosopher
- Frantz Fanon
- Michel Foucault
- Édouard Glissant
- Félix Guattari
- Vladimir Jankélévitch
- Étienne de La Boétie, philosopher and politician
- Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe
- Henri Lefèbvre
- Marcel Légaut, Christian philosopher
- Jean de Léry, corsaire and ethnologist, anti-racism activist
- Emmanuel Lévinas
- Jean-François Lyotard
- Nicolas Malebranche
- Gabriel Marcel, philosopher
- Maurice Merleau-Ponty, phenomenologist
- Michel de Montaigne, philosopher essayist
- Montesquieu, political philosopher
- Edgar Morin
- Emmanuel Mounier, philosopher
- Jean-Luc Nancy, philosopher
- Blaise Pascal, scientist, Christian philosopher and author
- Jean-François Revel
- Paul Ricœur
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist philosopher
- Michel Serres
- François-Marie Arouet, Enlightenment author, deist/agnostic philosopher
- Éric Weil, philosopher
- Simone Weil
Politicians
- Robert Badinter, lawyer, statesman and anti-death-sentence activist
- François Bayrou, UDF party leader
- Léon Blum, politician, Socialist party leader, prime minister
- José Bové, anti-globalization activist, altermondialist
- Aristide Briand
- Jacques Chirac, politician, member of center-right wing party, former city mayor of Paris, two-term French president
- Georges Clemenceau
- Gaspard de Coligny
- Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris
- Jacques Delors
- Félix Faure, President of France who died of a heart attack while making love to his mistress
- Charles de Gaulle, World War II general, commander of the Free French Forces, heroic French president
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
- François Guizot, Prime Minister
- Gisèle Halimi lawyer and feminist activist
- François Hollande, former PS leader, former French president
- Jean Jaurès, politician, pacifist
- Lionel Jospin, socialist, former prime minister
- Bernard Kouchner, founder of Médecins du Monde
- Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme right party in France, Front National, presidential candidate
- Louis Lépine, Paris police chief, governor of Algiers, founder of the Concours Lépine
- Émile Loubet, President of France who was elected in 1899, after the death of Félix Faure
- Henri-Auguste Lozé, Paris police chief, senator of the Third Republic
- Emmanuel Macron, founder and current President of En Marche, current President of France
- Jean-Claude Martinez, lawyer and European deputy
- Pierre Mendès France, lawyer and statesman, prime minister
- Honoré Mirabeau
- François Mitterrand, lawyer and statesman, president
- Jean Monnet
- Philippe Pétain, head of Vichy France
- Alexandre de Prouville, Viceroy of New France
- Marthe Richard
- Gilberte Roca, Communist
- Ségolène Royal, politician, Socialist party, presidential candidate
- Nicolas Sarkozy, politician, President of the right wing party
- Victor Schœlcher, anti-slavery activist
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
- Maurice Thorez
- Jacques Toubon
- Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister of France
- Dominique Voynet, physician and Green party politician
Popes
Resistance workers
Resistance workers during the German occupation of France in World War II- Lucie Samuel-Aubrac, human rights activist
- Raymond Aubrac, statesman
- Robert Benoist, SOE operative, champion race car driver
- Denise Bloch, SOE operative: King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, Legion of Honor, French Resistance Medal
- Andrée Borrel, SOE operative: Croix de guerre
- Madeleine Damerment, SOE operative: Legion of Honor, Croix de guerre, Médaille combattant volontaire de la Résistance
- Marie Louise Dissard, U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
- William Grover-Williams, SOE operative, champion race car driver
- Cecily Lefort, SOE operative: Croix de guerre
- Pierre Mendès France, lawyer, statesman
- Jean Moulin, statesman
- Agnès de La Barre de Nanteuil, assisted allied airmen
- Abbé Pierre, Priest and founder of Emmaus
- Christian Pineau, statesman
- Eliane Plewman, SOE operative: Croix de guerre
- Germaine Ribière, Righteous among the Nations
- Élise Rivet, nun executed by Nazis for aiding the resistance
- Lilian Rolfe, SOE agent executed by the Nazis
- Odette Sansom, SOE operative: George Cross, MBE, Legion of Honor
- Suzanne Spaak, Belgian-born agent: "Red Orchestra" intelligence network; executed 1944
- Violette Szabo, SOE operative: George Cross, Croix de guerre
- Jean-Pierre Wimille, SOE operative, champion race car driver
- See also French Resistance
Scientists
Social activists
- Hubertine Auclert, journalist and feminist leader
- Simone de Beauvoir, author, philosopher, and feminist
- Christian de Boisredon, social activist
- Sophie de Condorcet, feminist
- Maria Deraismes, feminist
- Marguerite Durand, journalist and feminist leader
- Olympe de Gouges, feminist
- Samir Kassir, journalist
- Jean Théophile Victor Leclerc, radical revolutionist, newspaper publisher
- Félix Pécaut, education proponent and pastor
- Victor Schoelcher, abolitionist
- Pierre Seel, homosexual concentration camp survivor, activist, author
- Séverine, feminist
- Madeleine Tribolati, trade unionist
- Flora Tristan, feminist
Soldiers
- Jeanne d'Arc
- Chevalier Bayard
- François Achille Bazaine
- Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
- Georges Boulanger
- Thomas Robert Bugeaud
- Raymond H. A. Carter
- François de Charette
- Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, known as le Grand Condé.
- Gaspard de Coligny
- François Darlan
- Louis-Nicolas Davout
- Bob Denard
- Alfred Dreyfus
- Charles François Dumouriez
- Ferdinand Foch
- Louis Franchet d'Espèrey
- Joseph Gallieni
- Maurice Gamelin
- Henri Gouraud
- Bertrand du Guesclin
- Joseph Joffre
- Edmond Jouhaud
- Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
- Alphonse Juin
- Marie-Pierre Kœnig
- Jacques de la Palice
- Marquis de Lafayette
- Charles Leclerc
- Jean Lannes
- Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
- Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
- François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg
- Hubert Lyautey
- Patrice MacMahon
- Charles Mangin
- Claude Martin
- André Masséna
- Jacques Massu
- Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
- Simon de Montfort
- Philippe Morillon
- Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte
- Joachim Murat
- Michel Ney
- Robert Nivelle
- Philippe Pétain
- Comte de Rochambeau
- Raoul Salan
- Maurice Sarrail
- Nicolas Soult
- Louis Jules Trochu
- Henri de Turenne
- Étienne de Vignolles, called La Hire
- Claude Louis Hector de Villars
- Maxime Weygand
Theologians
S.J. is the abbreviation used to indicate that someone is/was a member of the Society of Jesus, another Catholic religious order.
- Marie-Émile Boismard O.P.
- Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
- Jean Calvin
- Sebastian Castellio, translator of the Bible
- Pierre Cauchon, condemned Joan of Arc
- Bernard of Clairvaux
- Jean Claude
- Yves Congar, O.P.
- Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
- Hubert Languet
- Maurice Leenhardt, ethnologist, theologian
- François Picquet, 18th-century missionary in New France
- Alexander de Rhodes S.J., 17th-century missionary to Indochina
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J.
- Auguste Sabatier
- Antonin Sertillanges O.P., founder of the Revue Thomiste
Others
- Suzanne Borel, first French woman diplomat
- André Charles Boulle, cabinet maker
- Louis Braille, blind inventor
- Charles Cros, poet and inventor
- Jeanne Calment, title claimant for the longest documented human lifespan – 122 years and 164 days
- Pierre de Coubertin, initiator of the modern Olympic Games
- Jeanne d'Arc, commander and Saint
- Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt
- Ninon de l'Enclos, courtesan, patron of the arts
- Cavalier de la Salle, explorer
- Maurice Debesse, educator
- Marcel Deprez, electrical engineer
- René Dumont, agronomist engineer and sociologist and ecology activist
- Jules Dumont d'Urville
- Maurice Duverger, jurist
- Gustave Eiffel, engineer
- Pierre Charles L'Enfant, planned Washington, D.C.
- Charles-Michel de l'Épée, founder of world's first public school for deaf people
- Marquis de la Fayette, military leader in the American Revolution
- Norbert Ferré, illusionist
- Arthur de Gobineau, diplomat, author of An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
- Paul Héroult, inventor
- Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans, designed the first steamship in 1783
- René François Lacôte, luthier
- René Lalique, artist
- Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds, explorer and canal engineer
- Auguste and Louis Lumière, inventors
- Brigitte Macron, high school teacher, first lady of France
- Jean-Michel Macron, professor of neurology at the University of Picardy
- Jean Paul Marat
- Jacques Mayol, freediver
- Philippe Méaille, contemporary art collector
- Montgolfier brothers, balloonists
- François Henri de la Motte, French spy executed for treason 1781 in London
- Nostradamus, physician, author, translator, astrological consultant
- Jean-Marie Pelt, botanist
- Élisée Reclus, geographer and anarchist
- César Ritz, hotelier
- Maximilien Robespierre
- Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, magician, namesake of "Harry Houdini"
- Pierre Seel, homosexual survivor of the concentration camps, activist, author
- Philippe Starck, designer
- Vauban, engineer
- Eugène François Vidocq, French convict-turned-spy considered the father of modern forensics
- Pierre Vidoue, Parisian printer and bookseller