French Famous Names Starting with Letter P

Is Professor of history at the University of Amiens, and is also an art critic and a curator in the

Is Professor of history at the University of Amiens, and is also an art critic and a curator in the field of contemporary art. [1][2] He grew up in a family of farmers from Charente (for a while he, too, worked in farming), he studied literature, history and philosophy at the University of Poitiers and University of Toulouse, before completing a doctorate in history of art with Laurence Bertrand Dorléac at the University of Paris I (Contemporary Fine Art – Forms and Constraints). In Paris, he encountered the future contemporary art curator, Ami Barak, as well as Catherine Millet, founder/director of Art Press and José Alvarez, director of the publishing label Regard, three figures whose positions on aesthetics influenced his own views.

Is a retired long-distance runner from France, who represented his native country in the men's 10,00

Is a retired long-distance runner from France, who represented his native country in the men's 10,000 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics, finishing in seventh place. Paul Arpin also finished third at the 1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships behind Kenyans John Ngugi and Paul Kipkoech. He was also part of the bronze medal-winning French team at the 1988 edition behind Kenya and Ethiopia (Paul Arpin finished 11th individually)

Was a former French male tennis player.

Was a former French male tennis player.

Was a French pediatrician and amateur astronomer specialising in double star observations. He starte

Was a French pediatrician and amateur astronomer specialising in double star observations. He started with his observations of double stars in 1925. Between 1933 and 1971 he was allowed to observe from the Paris Observatory. He made 20,044 measures over 47 years. Since 1954 he often published at the International Astronomical Union Commission 26 Information Circular, the last contribution sending in 1993, when he was 92 years old.

Was the French ambassador to England from 1677 to 1688. His dispatches from England to Louis XIV hav

Was the French ambassador to England from 1677 to 1688. His dispatches from England to Louis XIV have been useful to historians of the period, though an expected bias may be present. With the conquest of England by William of Orange, Louis XIV's most implacable enemy, Barillon was expelled from England and war soon commenced between the two kingdoms.

Is a French football player who currently plays for Sedan.

Is a French football player who currently plays for Sedan.

Was a French-American traveler and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern

Was a French-American traveler and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas and the Pygmy people of central Africa. He later researched the prehistory of Scandinavia.

Was a French sculptor. He is the father of the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. Thanks to a grant from the

Was a French sculptor. He is the father of the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. Thanks to a grant from the government of Algeria, he continued his studies in Paris where he became the student, then the friend, of Charles Despiau and Jean Boucher. He won the Grand Prix de Rome and Prix Blumenthal in 1926. He married in Paris in 1930 (3 children were born to the marriage, Alain, Jean-Paul and Muriel). He received the Grand Prix artistique of Algeria in 1932 and then the Grand Prix of the city of Paris in 1936.[1]

French writer, intellectual, critic, and literary historian.Paul Bénichou first achieved prominence

French writer, intellectual, critic, and literary historian.Paul Bénichou first achieved prominence in 1948 with Morales du grand siècle, his work on the social context of the French seventeenth-century classics. Later Bénichou undertook a prodigious research program, seeking to understand the radical pessimism and disappointment expressed by mid-nineteenth writers. This project resulted in a series of major works, beginning with Le Sacre de l’écrivain, 1750-1830 (1973; Eng. trans. 1999 [The Consecration of the Writer, 1750-1830]). A 1995 volume, Selon Mallarmé, may be considered an extension of this series. Together, these works amount to an important reinterpretation of French romanticism. Critic Tzvetan Todorov described Bénichou’s special interest as “the thought of poets.” More generally, though, Paul Bénichou’s work contributed to the understanding of the creative writer's place in modernity, and illuminated the role of writers in legitimating the institutions and values of modern society.

Was the co-founder of Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois in 1906. He wrote a doc

Was the co-founder of Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois in 1906. He wrote a doctoral thesis on the legal protection of composers which has long been authoritative and an essay on Jean-Philippe Rameau. He was the grandfather of the singer France Gall and father of the composer and organist Jacques Berthier (1923-1994).

Was a French architect. He is particularly known for Le Plan de Rome, a large architectural model of

Was a French architect. He is particularly known for Le Plan de Rome, a large architectural model of Ancient Rome. It is a plaster model of about 70 square metres at a scale of 1:400, showing Rome as it would have been in the time of the emperor Constantine I (4th century AD). The model is preserved at the University of Caen and is itself listed as an ancient monument. A second version is in the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels.

Is a member of the Senate of France since 1992, and re-elected in 2001, representing the Pyrénées-

Is a member of the Senate of France since 1992, and re-elected in 2001, representing the Pyrénées-Orientales department. He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He is also the mayor of Sournia, in Pyrénées-Orientales.

Is a French chef, considered one of the finest cooks of the 20th century. He is widely credited with

Is a French chef, considered one of the finest cooks of the 20th century. He is widely credited with being one of the first chefs to emerge from the kitchen and to enter public life. In this role, he has extensively traveled for several decades, promoting French cuisine, starting restaurants and culinary institutions, and participating in other business ventures.

Was a French composer of classical music. He studied music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur

Was a French composer of classical music. He studied music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and received the premier prix d'harmonie (1937) in the class of Jean Gallon; the premier prix de fugue (1942) in the class of Noël Gallon; and the premier prix de composition (1945) in the class of Henri Busser.

Was a French athlete who competed mainly in the 3,000 metre steeple chase. He competed for a France

Was a French athlete who competed mainly in the 3,000 metre steeple chase. He competed for a France in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France in the 3,000 metre steeple chase where he won the bronze medal.

Is an automotive designer noted for his work at Citroën, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz, where he design

Is an automotive designer noted for his work at Citroën, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz, where he designed the Mercedes-Benz 600. His work in the early 1950s with Citroën preceeded a ten-year tenure as the head of Daimler-Benz's Advanced Design studios in Sindelfingen starting in 1957. It was here that Bracq styled the 600. He also designed the 230SL Pagoda, the 220S Coupé, the 250 and 220D as well as the W108 series.

Professional ice hockey forward. He was selected in the second round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 28

Professional ice hockey forward. He was selected in the second round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 28th overall, by the Quebec Nordiques. He played for the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers at the NHL level. He has also played extensively in other North American and European leagues.

Was an engineer, railway pioneer and participant in the Hambach Festival, the German political prote

Was an engineer, railway pioneer and participant in the Hambach Festival, the German political protest of 1832. Paul Camille Denis was born on 28 June 1796 at Château des Saales in Montier-en-Der, in the Département of Haute-Marne, France. He grew up as a child of the Mainz city councillor, Peter Denis, and attended the Lyceum Louis le Grand in Paris. In 1814 and 1815 he studied at the École Polytechnique in Paris. After the conclusion of his studies he returned to the Palatinate to his father who had since settled at Neustadt.

Is a French professional football (soccer) goalkeeper, currently with Stade Reims on loan from Greno

Is a French professional football (soccer) goalkeeper, currently with Stade Reims on loan from Grenoble Foot 38.

Was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition

Was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism.

Was a French professional road bicycle racer. In 1932 he won a silver medal at the 1932 Summer Olymp

Was a French professional road bicycle racer. In 1932 he won a silver medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in team pursuit.

Was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel.

Was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholic faith.

Was one of France’s greatest poster artists. Made famous in 1925 by his poster for the Revue Nègr

Was one of France’s greatest poster artists. Made famous in 1925 by his poster for the Revue Nègre, which helped to launch the career of Joséphine Baker (who became his mistress), he worked for over forty years in the theatre, creating not only posters but also numerous sets and costumes.

Was a French Huguenot librarian and scholar. He is best known for his work Gallia Orientalis, a biog

Was a French Huguenot librarian and scholar. He is best known for his work Gallia Orientalis, a biographical dictionary of French Christian Hebraists.

Was a French journalist, nationalist and conspiracy author. A former boulangiste and Freemason, Copi

Was a French journalist, nationalist and conspiracy author. A former boulangiste and Freemason, Copin-Albancelli used his experience to become one of the most vehement detractors of Freemasonry, which he, along with many anti-Dreyfusards of the time, associated with Jewish conspiracies. At the turn of the 20th century he founded the anti-Masonic and antisemitic newspapers À bas les tyrans (with André Baron (Louis Dasté), English: "Down with tyrants") and La Bastille