List of Famous people born in France
Hubert Germain
Hubert Germain is a French politician and former member of the French Resistance. Since 20 November 2020, he is the last living Companion of the Order of Liberation.
Valérie Lemercier
Valérie Lemercier is a French actress, screenwriter, director and singer.
Jean-Jacques Goldman
Jean-Jacques Goldman is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French pop rock act. Born in Paris and active in the music scene since 1975, he had a highly successful solo career in the 1980s, and was part of the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones, releasing another string of hits in the 1990s.
Riyad Mahrez
Riyad Karim Mahrez is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Manchester City and captains the Algerian national team.
Dimitri Payet
Dimitri Payet is a French professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille and the France national team. A set-piece specialist, known for his accurate, bending free kicks, he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, and is described as a player who is "blessed with terrific technique and dribbling skills".
Benoît Magimel
Benoît Magimel is a French actor. A prolific actor who was 14 when he appeared in his first film, Magimel has starred in a variety of roles in French cinema. At age 16, Magimel left school to pursue acting as a career. In 2001, he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher.
Mathieu Valbuena
Mathieu Valbuena is a French professional footballer who plays for Greek club Olympiacos. He plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is known for his pace, technical ability, and tenacious style of play. He is described by his former coach at Libourne Saint-Seurin Didier Tholot as "an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space, above all due to his dribbling skills." Due to his small stature, Valbuena is nicknamed le petit vélo, which translates to "the little bike". This is a play on Valbuena's size and the fact that the home ground of Marseille, where he played for eight years, is called the Stade Vélodrome.
Simone Veil
Simone Veil was a French magistrate and stateswoman who served as Health Minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman to hold that office. As health minister, she is best remembered for advancing women’s legal rights in France, in particular for the 1975 law that legalized abortion, today known as Loi Veil. From 1998 to 2007 she was a member of the Constitutional Council, France’s highest legal authority.
Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard is a French actress, singer-songwriter, and environmentalist. She is known for her wide range of roles across blockbusters, and independent films. She has received numerous accolades, including; an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two César Awards, a European Award, and a Lumières Award. She became a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2010, and was promoted to Officer in 2016.
Laurent Blanc
Laurent Robert Blanc is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Rayyan. He has the nickname Le Président, which was given to him following his stint at Marseille in tribute to his leadership skills.