List of Famous people born in France

Luc Paul Maurice Besson is a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He directed or produced the films Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990). Besson is associated with the Cinéma du look film movement. He has been nominated for a César Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his films Léon: The Professional and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. He won Best Director and Best French Director for his sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997). He wrote and directed the 2014 sci-fi action film Lucy and the 2017 space opera film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Virginie Fernández, known by her stage name Virginie Ledoyen, is a French actress who has appeared in French, British and American films.

Gilbert Montagné is a French musician from the Ménilmontant neighborhood in Paris and Bourbonnais, a pianist, organist, and a singer. He is a decorated Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. Blind since birth, he is best remembered for his international hit "The Fool", which was a number 1 single across Europe in 1971. In France, he is still a popular albums and concert artist, having toured with the likes of Johnny Hallyday.

Justine-Juliette Lévy is a French book editor and author.

Alexandre Lacazette is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal and the France national team. He plays mainly as a striker, but has also been deployed as a second striker and wide forward.

Michel Paul Fourniret, also known as the Ogre of the Ardennes, is a French serial killer who confessed to killing twelve people in France and Belgium between 1987 and 2003. After he was arrested in June 2003 for the attempted kidnapping of a girl in Ciney, Fourniret confessed to killing nine people—eight females and one male—in 2004, having been informed on by his then-wife, Monique Pierrette Olivier. Fourniret was convicted of seven of these murders on 28 May 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole, while Olivier was given life with a minimum term of 28 years for complicity.

Cyril Féraud is a French television presenter.

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the Siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He has been considered a national hero in both countries.

Henry II, also known as Henry Curtmantle, Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 to his death. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. King Louis VII of France made him Duke of Normandy in 1150. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Count Geoffrey V, in 1151. His marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. He became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185. Before he was 40 he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France—an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire. At various times, Henry also partially controlled Scotland, Wales and the Duchy of Brittany.

Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel is a French professional basketball player of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the French national basketball team in their international competitions. Standing at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) tall with a wingspan of 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) long, he plays the center position. Considered one of the best rim protectors in NBA History, he was the NBA blocks leader in the 2016–17 season. In 2018 and 2019, he won back-to-back NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, making him one of only ten players in NBA history who have won that honor at least twice.