The Greatest Frenchmen of All Time

Charles de Gaulle

He was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first president from 1959 to 1969

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur was a French

chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases, and his discoveries have saved countless lives ever since. He created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Depardieu is a French actor,

film-maker. He is one of the most prolific character actors in film history, having completed approximately 170 movies since 1967. He has twice won the César Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe award for Best Actor . Depardieu acted in many big budget Hollywood movies. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris,

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Yazid Zidane nicknamed "Zizou", is an assistant coach and sporting director at Real Madrid, and a retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for the French national team, Zidane was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years by UEFA, and has been described as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Joan of ArcJoan of Arc nicknamed- The

Maid of Orléans is a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. Joan said she received visions and heard voices of the Archangel Saint Michael. , She was burned at the stake when she was about 19 years old.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe

Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his adventure novels and his profound influence on the literary genre of science fiction widely popular including Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days

Victor Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. His best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).

Jean Reno

Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared in numerous successful films such as Crimson Rivers, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, The Pink Panther, Ronin, Les visiteurs, The Big Blue and Léon: The Professional.

Sophie Marceau

She is a French actress, director, screenwriter, and author. She became a film star in Europe with a string of successful films, including L'Étudiante, Pacific Palisades, Fanfan, and Revenge of the Musketeers . Marceau became an international film star with her performances in Braveheart , Firelight , and the nineteenth James Bond film The World Is Not Enough

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy is a French politician who

served as the 23rd President of France. Before his presidency, he was the leader of

the (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac's presidency he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005) and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005–2007).

Audrey Tautou

Audrey Justine Tautou is a French actress and model. Tautou has modeled for companies such as Chanel, Montblanc, L'Oréal, and many others.

Lumière brothers

The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean were the earliest filmmakers in history. Appropriately, "lumière" translates as "light" in English.

Albert Camus

Albert Camus was a French Nobel Prize winning author, journalist, and philosopher. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism.

Yannick Noah

Yannick Noah is a former professional tennis player from France. He is best remembered for winning the French Open in 1983 and as a highly successful captain of France's Davis Cup .

Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas was a French writer. His works have been translated into nearly 100 languages, and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of high adventure, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Man in the iron mask.