Top 10 Greatest French Persons

1. Louis Pasteur

   

   Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization. He developed vaccines for rabies and anthrax and founded the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Pasteur's work laid the foundation for modern microbiology... read more

   Our milk is pasteurized, and obviously it's named after him.

2. Jeanne d'Arc

   

   Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans," is considered a heroine of France for her role in the final phase of the Hundred Years' War. She claimed visions of saints including St. Michael the Archangel, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch, who urged her to lead French forces against... read more

   Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc in English) depicted on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript.

3. René Descartes

   

   René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who invented analytical geometry, linking the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra. He is also known for his philosophical statement, Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). Descartes is often regarded as a foundational... read more

   Notable ideas:

   Cogito ergo sum, method of doubt, method of normals, Cartesian coordinate system, Cartesian dualism, ontological argument for the existence of God, mathesis universalis. Folium of Descartes.

4. Napoléon Bonaparte

   

   Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 - May 5, 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution. He became Emperor of the French in 1804 and led successive military campaigns across Europe. His Napoleonic Code and administrative reforms continue to influence... read more

   France has a stereotype of being portrayed as cowardly, mostly because of World War II, yet Napoleon stands against that and shows how well France can do on the battlefield.

5. Pierre Curie

   

   Pierre Curie was a French physicist and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife Marie Curie and Henri Becquerel for their work on radioactivity. His contributions helped establish the field of atomic physics... read more

   A physicist, pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903.

6. Charles de Gaulle

   

   Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (November 22, 1890 - November 9, 1970) was a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France from 1940 to 1944 and served as head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946.... read more

7. Édith Piaf

   

   Édith Piaf was a French cabaret singer, songwriter, and actress who became widely regarded as France's national chanteuse, as well as being one of France's greatest international stars. Her signature songs include La Vie en Rose, Non, je ne regrette rien, and Hymne à l'amour. Piaf's music and life have... read more

   Songs: Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regrets), La Vie en Rose, Hymne à l'amour, Milord, Rien de Rien

8. Gustave Eiffel

   

   Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit viaduct. He is best known for designing the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition... read more

   A civil engineer and architect, best known for:

   1. the world-famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition

   2. his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York

   3. various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit viaduct

   4. important contributions in the fields of meteorology and aerodynamics

9. Honoré de Balzac

   

   Honoré de Balzac (May 20, 1799 - August 18, 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His novel sequence La Comédie Humaine, which presents a comprehensive panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is widely regarded as his magnum opus.... read more

   One of the greatest novelists of all time.

10. Frédéric Joliot-Curie

    

    Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie was a French physicist and the husband of Irène Joliot-Curie, with whom he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. He and Irène also helped found the Orsay Faculty of Sciences, now part of Paris-Saclay University... read more

    Awards - Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1935).

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Cardinal Richelieu

12. ?

    Eleanor of Aquitaine

    
The Contenders

13. Jules Verne

    

    Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright who is best known for his adventure novels and his significant impact on the science fiction genre. His most famous works include Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days... read more

    A novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his adventure novels and his profound influence on the literary genre of science fiction. He's one of the fathers of science fiction, a title also given to H. G. Wells and Hugo Gernsback.

    Verne is the second most-translated author in the world since 1979, ranking between the English-language writers Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare.

14. Voltaire

    

    François-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire, was born on November 21, 1694, and died on May 30, 1778. He was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher who became famous for his sharp wit, his criticism of the Catholic Church, and his strong support for civil liberties such as... read more

    Tremendous writer, philosopher, and overall genius.

15. Victor Hugo

    

    Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. Hugo is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers.

    Outside of France, his most famous works are the novels Les Misérables (1862) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame... read more

    I have to vote for him. Was he a great poet? Yes. Was he an incredibly talented writer? Yes.

    Was he one of the most audacious politicians and one of the most profoundly humanitarian persons ever? Yes. He got into trouble for speaking the truth about 19th century France. He was exiled. But he was right. His fight was worth it. I wish he could have seen France now and appreciate the progress. Rest in peace.

    Poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement.

16. Georges Bizet

    

    Georges Bizet, registered at birth as Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer of the Romantic era. He's best known for his opera Carmen, which has become one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide. Bizet's innovative harmonies and orchestration influenced later composers and helped... read more

17. Claude Monet

    

    Oscar-Claude Monet was a founder of French Impressionist painting and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially in plein-air landscape painting. His series paintings, such as those of haystacks, Rouen Cathedral... read more

    He was a founder of French Impressionist painting. Even the term "Impressionism" was derived from the title of his painting "Impression, Sunrise" (Impression, soleil levant).

    The image is his self-portrait.

18. Coco Chanel

    

    Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a French fashion designer and the founder of the Chanel brand. She is widely credited with revolutionizing women's fashion in the early 20th century by introducing more casual styles that replaced the more restrictive garments of the time. Chanel's legacy continues... read more

19. Jean Michel Jarre

    

    Jean-Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer, and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient, and new-age music genres. Jarre is also known for organizing spectacular outdoor concerts that feature his music along with laser displays and fireworks.

    This guy performed at one of the largest concerts ever, with 3,500,000 people in Moscow, Russia, in 1997.

20. Paul Cézanne

    

    Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundation for the transition from 19th-century artistic traditions to the modern art movements of the 20th century. He is often referred to as the father of modern art. Cézanne's influence is evident in the work of artists... read more

21. Auguste Renoir

    

    Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who played a leading role in the development of Impressionism. Celebrating beauty, especially feminine sensuality, he has been described as "the final representative of a tradition running directly from Rubens to Watteau."

22. Blaise Pascal

    

    Blaise Pascal (June 19, 1623 - August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Catholic theologian. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pascal's earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences, where he made important contributions... read more

23. Claude Debussy

    

    Claude Debussy was a French composer often regarded as a central figure in the transition to modern classical music. He is sometimes associated with Impressionism, although he rejected the label. Debussy's innovative use of harmony and texture influenced many 20th-century composers.

    The greatest composer to have ever lived.

24. Gerard Depardieu

    

    Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ, is a French actor. He has received acclaim for his performances in The Last Metro, for which he won the César Award for Best Actor, in Police (1985), which earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and in Jean de Florette (1986). His role in Cyrano de Bergerac (1990... read more

25. Guy de Maupassant

    

    Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (August 5, 1850 - July 6, 1893) was a French author widely regarded as a master of the short story. He was a leading figure in the naturalist literary movement and often portrayed human lives, social forces, and personal destinies with disillusionment and a somber... read more

26. Isabelle Adjani

    

27. Hector Berlioz

    

    Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). He was a major influence on the development of orchestration and program music in the 19th century. Berlioz was also an accomplished conductor and music critic.