List of French people

French people of note include:

Actors

Architects

Artists

Auguste Rodin

Athletes

See also Category:French athletes

A–J

André the Giant

Sarah Abitbol

Jessica Fox

• André the Giant, professional wrestler
• Sarah Abitbol, pairs figure skater (with Stéphane Bernadis); World Figure Skating Championship bronze^[1]
• Tariq Abdul-Wahad (born Olivier Saint-Jean), basketball player
• Luc Alphand, Alpine skier
• Jacques Anquetil, cyclist
• Jonathan Assous, France/Israel, defensive midfielder (Beitar Ramat Gan)^[2]
• Fabien Barthez, football player
• Brice Blanc, jockey
• Marion Bartoli, tennis player
• Fabrice Benichou, world-champion super bantamweight boxer
• Stéphane Bernadis, pairs figure skater (with Sarah Abitbol)
• 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 (born François Goldenberg), Formula One driver
• Eugène Christophe, cyclist
• Albert Clément (c. 1878–1907), 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
• Abou Diaby, football player
• Boris Diaw, basketball player
• Marcel Desailly, Ghana-born French citizen, football 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
• Laurent Fignon, cyclist
• Jeremy Flores, surfer
• Just Fontaine, football player
• Jacques Fouroux, rugby union player and coach
• Jessica Fox (born 1994), French-born Australian, slalom canoer, Olympic silver (K-1 slalom), world championships bronze (C-1)^[3]
• Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, slalom canoer, Olympic bronze (K-1 slalom), five golds at ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships (two-time K-1, three-time K-1 team)
• 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 (Hapoel Ashkelon & U21 national team)^[4]
• Alphonse Halimi ("la Petite Terreur"), world-champion bantamweight boxer
• Marlène Harnois (born 1986), taekwondo practitioner
• Thierry Henry, football player
• Bernard Hinault, cyclist
• 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

Alexander Lévy

• Jean-Claude Killy (born 1943), skier
• Raymond Kopa, football player
• Pascal Lavanchy, ice dancer (with Sophie Moniotte)
• Suzanne Lenglen, tennis player
• Alexander Lévy (born 1990), American-born professional golfer
• Alexandre Lippmann (1881–1960), 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: Paris Saint-Germain
• Laure Manaudou, swimmer
• Amélie Mauresmo, tennis player
• Jose Meiffret, cyclist
• Éric Millot, figure skater
• Alain Mimoun, athlete
• Sophie Moniotte, ice dancer (with Pascal Lavanchy)
• Carole Montillet, skier
• Armand Mouyal (1925–1988) , épée fencer, Olympic bronze, world champion
• Alfred "Artem" Nakache (1915–1983), swimmer, world record (200 m breaststroke), one-third of French two-time world record (3x100 relay team)
• Claude Netter (1924–2007), foil fencer, Olympic champion, silver
• Hellé Nice, pioneer female race car driver
• Joakim Noah, NBA basketball player (Chicago Bulls)
• Yannick Noah, tennis player
• Jacques Ochs (1883–1971), 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 (born 1975), ice hockey player
• Maurice Rozenthal (born 1975), ice hockey player
• Georges Stern (1882–1928), jockey
• Jean Stern (1875–1962), 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 (1906–1989), French-born American Olympic fencer
• Zinedine Zidane, football player

Authors

F–O

Victor Hugo

• Frantz Fanon, 20th-century author, psychiatrist
• Léon-Paul Fargue
• Georges Feydeau
• Marc Ferro
• Amanda Filipacchi, novelist (French and U.S. citizenship, writes in English)
• 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
• Julien Gracq
• Julien Green
• Pierre Guyotat
• Jean-Edern Hallier
• Auguste Himly, historian
• Victor Hugo, novelist, poet, and playwright
• Joris-Karl Huysmans
• Eugène Ionesco
• Alain Jouffroy, poet, art critic, plastician
• Jean de La Bruyère
• Jean de La Fontaine
• Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
• Comte de Lautréamont (Isidore Ducasse)
• 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 (The Mystery of the Yellow Room) and author of Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (The Phantom of the Opera)
• Stéphane Mallarmé, poet
• Hector Malot, 19th-century author
• André Malraux
• Matthieu Marais, 18th-century lawyer and writer
• Marcel Marceau, 20th-century mime (and member of the French Resistance in World War II)
• Pierre de Marivaux, playwright
• Clément Marot, poet
• Guy de Maupassant, novelist
• François Mauriac, Roman Catholic writer
• 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
• Anaïs Nin

Aviators

Business

Chefs

Colonial administrators

Composers

Criminals

For collaboration with Nazi Germany see also the politicians section.

Dancers

See also Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère

Economists

Fashion

Fictional characters

Filmmakers

Humorists

Military leaders

Monarchs and royals

Musicians

Philosophers

Politicians

Popes

Resistance workers

Resistance workers during the German occupation of France in World War II

• See also French Resistance

Scientists

Social activists

Soldiers

Theologians

O.P. (Ordo Praedicatorum) is the abbreviation used to indicate that someone is/was a member of Dominican order, a Catholic religious order. S.J. (Societas Iesu) is the abbreviation used to indicate that someone is/was a member of the Society of Jesus, another Catholic religious order.

Others

See also

• List of French Jews
• List of French people of immigrant origin
• List of people by nationality: Belgians, Catalans, Monégasque people, Quebecers, Swiss

References