| Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
|---|
| Jean Anouilh |
Playwright |
23-Jun-1910 |
3-Oct-1987 |
Le Voyageur sans Bagage |
| Guillaume Apollinaire |
Poet |
26-Aug-1880 |
9-Nov-1918 |
Alcools, Calligrammes |
| Louis Aragon |
Poet |
3-Oct-1897 |
24-Dec-1982 |
Communistic French poet |
| Antonin Artaud |
Playwright |
4-Sep-1896 |
4-Mar-1948 |
Theater of Cruelty |
| Jean-Antoine de Baïf |
Poet |
1532 |
Oct-1589 |
Pléiade poet |
| Honoré de Balzac |
Novelist |
20-May-1799 |
18-Aug-1850 |
Comédie Humaine |
| Maurice Barrès |
Novelist |
19-Aug-1862 |
4-Dec-1923 |
Cult of the Self |
| Georges Bataille |
Philosopher |
10-Sep-1897 |
8-Jul-1962 |
Histoire de l'oeil |
| Charles Baudelaire |
Poet |
9-Apr-1821 |
31-Aug-1867 |
Les Fleurs du Mal |
| Pierre Beaumarchais |
Author |
24-Jan-1732 |
18-May-1799 |
The Barber of Seville |
| Simone de Beauvoir |
Activist |
9-Jan-1908 |
14-Apr-1986 |
The Second Sex |
| Joachim du Bellay |
Poet |
c. 1522 |
1-Jan-1560 |
French Pléiade poet |
| Cyrano de Bergerac |
Playwright |
6-Mar-1619 |
28-Jul-1655 |
Voyage dans la Lune |
| Georges Bernanos |
Novelist |
20-Feb-1888 |
5-Jul-1948 |
The Diary of a Country Priest |
| Maurice Blanchot |
Philosopher |
22-Sep-1907 |
20-Feb-2003 |
L'Espace littéraire |
| Léon Blum |
Head of State |
9-Apr-1872 |
30-Mar-1950 |
Thrice Prime Minister of France |
| Nicolas Boileau |
Poet |
1-Nov-1636 |
13-Mar-1711 |
Satires du Sieur D... |
| Yves Bonnefoy |
Poet |
24-Jun-1923 |
|
Du Mouvement et de l'immobilité de Douve |
| Catherine Breillat |
Film Director |
13-Jul-1948 |
|
Anatomy of Hell |
| Robert Bresson |
Film Director |
25-Sep-1901 |
18-Dec-1999 |
Une Femme Douce |
| André Breton |
Author |
18-Feb-1896 |
28-Sep-1966 |
Manifeste du Surréalisme |
| Jean de La Bruyère |
Author |
16-Aug-1645 |
10-May-1696 |
Les Caractères de Théophraste |
| Michel Butor |
Author |
14-Sep-1926 |
|
L'emploi du temps |
| Albert Camus |
Novelist |
7-Nov-1913 |
4-Jan-1960 |
French author and Nobel laureate |
| Jacques Cazotte |
Author |
17-Oct-1719 |
25-Sep-1792 |
Diable Amoureux |
| Louis-Ferdinand Céline |
Novelist |
27-May-1894 |
1-Jul-1961 |
Voyage au bout de la nuit |
| Charles, duc d'Orléans |
Poet |
24-Nov-1394 |
4-Jan-1465 |
Medieval French courtly poet |
| Alain Chartier |
Poet |
c. 1392 |
1449 |
La Belle Dame sans merci |
| François-René de Chateaubriand |
Author |
4-Sep-1768 |
4-Jul-1848 |
Génie du christianisme |
| André de Chénier |
Poet |
30-Oct-1762 |
25-Jul-1794 |
Greatest 18th c. French poet |
| Chrétien de Troyes |
Poet |
fl. 1165-80 |
fl. 1165-80 |
Author of Arthurian romances |
| Paul Claudel |
Poet |
6-Aug-1868 |
23-Feb-1955 |
French poet and diplomat |
| J. M. G. Le Clézio |
Novelist |
13-Apr-1940 |
|
Nomadic novelist |
| Jean Cocteau |
Poet |
5-Jul-1889 |
11-Oct-1963 |
La Belle et la Bête |
| Colette |
Novelist |
28-Jan-1873 |
3-Aug-1954 |
Gigi |
| Pierre Corneille |
Playwright |
6-Jun-1606 |
1-Oct-1684 |
Le Cid |
| Alphonse Daudet |
Novelist |
13-May-1840 |
16-Dec-1897 |
Lettres de mon moulin |
| Jean Daurat |
Poet |
1508 |
1-Nov-1588 |
French Pléiade poet |
| Marquis de Sade |
Author |
2-Jun-1740 |
2-Dec-1814 |
120 Days of Sodom |
| Casimir Delavigne |
Poet |
4-Apr-1793 |
11-Dec-1843 |
La Parisienne |
| Jacques Delille |
Poet |
22-Jun-1738 |
1-May-1813 |
French translator of Virgil |
| Jacques Derrida |
Philosopher |
15-Jul-1930 |
9-Oct-2004 |
Deconstructionism, Intellectual Terrorist |
| Eustache Deschamps |
Poet |
c. 1346 |
c. 1406 |
L'Art de Dictier |
| Antoinette Deshoulières |
Poet |
1-Jan-1638 |
17-Feb-1694 |
French poet-socialite |
| Jean Desmarets |
Playwright |
1595 |
28-Oct-1676 |
Les Visionnaires |
| Camille Desmoulins |
Author |
2-Mar-1760 |
5-Apr-1794 |
Touched off the French Revolution |
| Philippe Destouches |
Playwright |
9-Apr-1680 |
4-Jul-1754 |
Le Glorieux |
| Georges Duhamel |
Novelist |
30-Jun-1884 |
13-Apr-1966 |
Civilisation |
| Alexandre Dumas père |
Novelist |
24-Jul-1802 |
5-Dec-1870 |
The Three Musketeers |
| Marguerite Duras |
Novelist |
4-Apr-1914 |
3-Mar-1996 |
Hiroshima mon Amour |
| Paul Éluard |
Poet |
14-Dec-1895 |
18-Nov-1952 |
La Capitale de la Douleur |
| Auguste Escoffier |
Chef |
28-Oct-1846 |
12-Feb-1935 |
Emperor of chefs |
| Marie-Madeleine de la Fayette |
Novelist |
1634 |
25-May-1693 |
La Princesse de Clèves |
| François Fénelon |
Author |
6-Aug-1651 |
7-Jan-1715 |
Télémaque |
| Alexandre Dumas fils |
Playwright |
27-Jul-1824 |
27-Nov-1895 |
La dame aux camélias |
| Gustave Flaubert |
Novelist |
12-Dec-1821 |
8-May-1880 |
Realist novelist, Madame Bovary |
| Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle |
Author |
11-Feb-1657 |
9-Jan-1757 |
Nouveaux Dialogues des Morts |
| Anatole France |
Novelist |
16-Apr-1844 |
13-Oct-1924 |
French novelist |
| Roger Martin du Gard |
Author |
23-Mar-1881 |
22-Aug-1958 |
Les Thibault |
| Robert Garnier |
Poet |
c. 1545 |
20-Sep-1590 |
Bradamante |
| Romain Gary |
Novelist |
8-May-1914 |
2-Dec-1980 |
Roots of Heaven |
| Théophile Gautier |
Poet |
30-Aug-1811 |
23-Dec-1872 |
The Hashish-Eaters' Club |
| Jean Genet |
Novelist |
19-Dec-1910 |
15-Apr-1986 |
Theatre of the Absurd |
| André Gide |
Author |
22-Nov-1869 |
19-Feb-1951 |
Le Voyage d'Urien |
| Jean Giraudoux |
Novelist |
29-Oct-1882 |
31-Jan-1944 |
The Madwoman of Chaillot |
| Rémy de Gourmont |
Poet |
4-Apr-1858 |
27-Sep-1915 |
Promenades Littéraires |
| Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset |
Poet |
29-Aug-1709 |
16-Jun-1777 |
Vert Vert |
| Jacques Grévin |
Playwright |
1538 |
5-Nov-1570 |
Les Ébahis |
| Ludovic Halévy |
Author |
1-Jan-1834 |
8-May-1908 |
French vaudevillain author |
| José María de Heredia |
Poet |
22-Nov-1842 |
2-Oct-1905 |
Les Trophées |
| Victor Hugo |
Author |
26-Feb-1802 |
23-May-1885 |
Les Miserables |
| Joris-Karl Huysmans |
Author |
5-Feb-1848 |
12-May-1907 |
Decadent author, À Rebours |
| Eugène Ionesco |
Playwright |
26-Nov-1912 |
28-Mar-1994 |
The Bald Soprano |
| Edmond Jabès |
Poet |
6-Apr-1912 |
2-Jan-1991 |
The Book of Resemblances |
| Max Jacob |
Poet |
12-Jul-1876 |
5-Mar-1944 |
Le Cornet à dés |
| Alfred Jarry |
Playwright |
8-Sep-1873 |
1-Nov-1907 |
Ubu roi |
| Jacques Jasmin |
Poet |
6-Mar-1798 |
4-Oct-1864 |
Provençal poet |
| Julia Kristeva |
Philosopher |
24-Jun-1941 |
|
Psychoanalyst, linguistic philsopher |
| Jean de la Fontaine |
Poet |
8-Jul-1621 |
13-Apr-1695 |
Fables and Contes |
| Jules Laforgue |
Poet |
16-Aug-1860 |
20-Aug-1887 |
Pessimistic poet who inspired T. S. Eliot |
| Alphonse de Lamartine |
Poet |
21-Oct-1790 |
28-Feb-1869 |
Bland French poet, failed politician |
| Victor de Laprade |
Poet |
13-Jan-1812 |
13-Dec-1883 |
Les Muses d'État |
| Valery Larbaud |
Author |
29-Aug-1881 |
2-Feb-1957 |
Poèmes par un riche amateur |
| Comte de Lautréamont |
Poet |
4-Apr-1846 |
24-Nov-1870 |
Les Chants de Maldoror |
| Maurice Leblanc |
Novelist |
11-Dec-1864 |
6-Nov-1941 |
Creator of Arsène Lupin |
| Michel Leiris |
Author |
20-Apr-1901 |
30-Sep-1990 |
Surrealist, ethnographer, autobiographer |
| Alain René Lesage |
Novelist |
6-May-1668 |
17-Nov-1747 |
Gil Blas |
| Bernard-Henri Lévy |
Author |
5-Nov-1948 |
|
Who Killed Daniel Pearl? |
| Jean-Baptiste Louvet |
Author |
12-Jun-1760 |
25-Aug-1797 |
Mémoires de Louvet de Couvrai |
| François de Malherbe |
Poet |
1555 |
16-Oct-1628 |
Larmes de Saint Pierre |
| Stéphane Mallarmé |
Poet |
18-Mar-1842 |
9-Sep-1898 |
A Throw of the Dice |
| André Malraux |
Novelist |
3-Nov-1901 |
23-Nov-1976 |
La Condition Humaine |
| Gabriel Marcel |
Philosopher |
7-Dec-1889 |
8-Oct-1973 |
French existential philosopher |
| Marie de France |
Poet |
c. 1175 |
1190 |
Lais |
| Pierre Marivaux |
Novelist |
4-Feb-1688 |
12-Feb-1763 |
Marianne |
| Mireille Mathieu |
Singer |
22-Jul-1946 |
|
Internationally renown French chanteuse |
| Guy de Maupassant |
Author |
5-Aug-1850 |
6-Jul-1893 |
French short story writer |
| François Mauriac |
Novelist |
11-Oct-1885 |
1-Sep-1970 |
Le Noeud de Vipères |
| André Maurois |
Author |
26-Jul-1885 |
9-Oct-1967 |
French biographer |
| Prosper Mérimée |
Author |
28-Sep-1803 |
23-Sep-1870 |
Carmen |
| Octave Mirbeau |
Novelist |
16-Feb-1850 |
16-Feb-1917 |
Le Jardin des supplices |
| Frédéric Mistral |
Poet |
8-Sep-1830 |
25-Mar-1914 |
Provençal poet and ethnographer |
| Molière |
Playwright |
15-Jan-1622 |
17-Feb-1673 |
Tartuffe, Le Misanthrope |
| Alfred de Musset |
Poet |
11-Dec-1810 |
2-May-1857 |
Les Caprices de Marianne |
| Gérard de Nerval |
Poet |
22-May-1808 |
26-Jan-1855 |
Unbalanced French romantic poet |
| Étienne Pasquier |
Author |
7-Jun-1529 |
30-Aug-1615 |
Recherches de la France |
| Jean Passerat |
Poet |
18-Oct-1534 |
14-Sep-1602 |
Satyre ménippée |
| Georges Perec |
Novelist |
7-Mar-1936 |
3-Mar-1982 |
La Vie: mode d'emploi |
| Bonaventure des Périers |
Poet |
1500 |
1544 |
Nouvelles récréations |
| Charles Perrault |
Author |
12-Jan-1628 |
16-May-1703 |
Tales of Mother Goose |
| Saint-John Perse |
Poet |
31-May-1887 |
20-Sep-1975 |
Exile |
| Marcel Proust |
Author |
10-Jul-1871 |
18-Nov-1922 |
In Search of Lost Time |
| Raymond Queneau |
Novelist |
21-Feb-1903 |
25-Oct-1976 |
Zazie dans le métro |
| François Rabelais |
Author |
c. 1494 |
9-Apr-1553 |
Gargantua and Pantagruel |
| Jean Racine |
Playwright |
20-Dec-1639 |
21-Apr-1699 |
Phèdre |
| Raymond Radiguet |
Novelist |
18-Jun-1903 |
12-Dec-1923 |
Le Diable au Corps |
| Pauline Réage |
Author |
23-Sep-1907 |
27-Apr-1998 |
Histoire d'O |
| Arthur Rimbaud |
Poet |
20-Oct-1854 |
10-Nov-1891 |
Une Saison en Enfer |
| Alain Robbe-Grillet |
Novelist |
18-Aug-1922 |
18-Feb-2008 |
Proponent of the nouveau roman |
| François de la Rochefoucauld |
Author |
15-Sep-1613 |
16-Mar-1680 |
Maxims |
| Éric Rohmer |
Film Director |
4-Apr-1920 |
11-Jan-2010 |
Ma Nuit chez Maud |
| Romain Rolland |
Novelist |
29-Jan-1866 |
30-Dec-1944 |
Jean-Christophe |
| Pierre de Ronsard |
Poet |
11-Sep-1524 |
27-Dec-1585 |
Lead Pléiade poet |
| Edmond Rostand |
Playwright |
1-Apr-1868 |
2-Dec-1918 |
Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Françoise Sagan |
Novelist |
21-Jun-1935 |
24-Sep-2004 |
Bonjour Tristesse |
| Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
Author |
29-Jun-1900 |
31-Jul-1944 |
The Little Prince |
| Henri de Saint-Simon |
Author |
17-Oct-1760 |
19-May-1825 |
Nouveau Christianisme |
| George Sand |
Author |
1-Jul-1804 |
8-Jun-1876 |
Lélia |
| Victorien Sardou |
Playwright |
5-Sep-1831 |
8-Nov-1908 |
Les Pattes de Mouche |
| Nathalie Sarraute |
Novelist |
18-Jul-1900 |
19-Oct-1999 |
Portrait of a Man Unknown |
| Jean-Paul Sartre |
Philosopher |
21-Jun-1905 |
15-Apr-1980 |
Nausea, No Exit |
| Madame de Sévigné |
Author |
5-Feb-1626 |
17-Apr-1696 |
Eminent French letter writer |
| Claude Simon |
Novelist |
10-Oct-1913 |
6-Jul-2005 |
Le Tricheur |
| Madame de Staël |
Author |
22-Apr-1766 |
14-Jul-1817 |
Important French romanticist |
| Stendhal |
Author |
23-Jan-1793 |
23-Mar-1842 |
Le Rouge et le Noir |
| Eugène Sue |
Novelist |
26-Jan-1804 |
3-Aug-1857 |
Roman-feuilleton novelist |
| Sully Prudhomme |
Poet |
16-Mar-1839 |
7-Sep-1907 |
Parnassian poet |
| Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux |
Author |
2-Oct-1619 |
10-Nov-1692 |
Historiettes |
| Alexis de Tocqueville |
Historian |
29-Jul-1805 |
16-Apr-1859 |
Democracy in America |
| Michel Tournier |
Novelist |
19-Dec-1924 |
|
Le Roi des aulnes |
| François Truffaut |
Film Director |
6-Feb-1932 |
21-Oct-1984 |
Last Metro |
| Paul Valéry |
Poet |
30-Oct-1871 |
20-Jul-1945 |
La Jeune Parque |
| Paul Verlaine |
Poet |
30-Mar-1844 |
8-Jan-1896 |
Leader of symbolist poetry movement |
| Jules Verne |
Author |
8-Feb-1828 |
24-Mar-1905 |
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea |
| Henri Verneuil |
Playwright |
15-Oct-1920 |
11-Jan-2002 |
I as in Icarus |
| Boris Vian |
Novelist |
10-Mar-1920 |
23-Jun-1959 |
L'Écume des jours |
| Alfred de Vigny |
Poet |
27-Mar-1797 |
17-Sep-1863 |
Chatterton |
| Voltaire |
Author |
21-Nov-1694 |
30-May-1778 |
Candide |
| Gao Xingjian |
Author |
4-Jan-1940 |
|
Chinese expatriate, novelist |
| Marguerite Yourcenar |
Novelist |
8-Jun-1903 |
17-Dec-1987 |
Mémoires d'Hadrien |
| Émile Zola |
Novelist |
2-Apr-1840 |
29-Sep-1902 |
J'Accuse |
