List of Famous people born in France

Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas for modern times, and was influential in the development and drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pope Paul VI presented his "Message to Men of Thought and of Science" at the close of Vatican II to Maritain, his long-time friend and mentor. The same pope had seriously considered making him a lay cardinal, but Maritain rejected it. Maritain's interest and works spanned many aspects of philosophy, including aesthetics, political theory, philosophy of science, metaphysics, the nature of education, liturgy and ecclesiology.

Jeanne Loriod was a French musician, regarded as the world's leading exponent of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument.

Nicole Marthe Le Douarin is a developmental biologist known for her studies of chimeras, which have led to critical insights regarding higher animal nervous and immune systems.

Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy was a French archaeologist, noted for his excavations at Susa in 1885 and for his work, L'Art antique de la Perse.

Albert Count Vandal was a French historian, born in Paris. He wrote:

• En karriole à travers la Suède et la Norvège (1876)
• Louis XV et Elizabeth de Russie (1882)
• Ambassade française en Orient sous Louis XV (1887)
• Napoléon et Alexandre Ier, awarded the Vaubert prize
• Les voyages du Marquis de Nointel (1900)
• L'avènement de Bonaparte (1902)

Gilbert Durand was a French academic known for his work on the imaginary, symbolic anthropology and mythology.

François Faber was a Luxembourgian racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands. He died in World War I while fighting for France. Faber was known for his long solo's; he is the only rider in Tour de France history to lead solo more than 1000 km.

Jacques Louis Eugène Rouché was a French art and music patron. He was the owner of the journal La Grande Revue and manager of the Théâtre des Arts and the Paris Opera.