10 Famous French Women Who Have Made A Difference In France

French women are regarded as generally pretty and stylish. It’s one of those stereotypes about France we hear so much about.

However, many of them are not mere pretty faces but of great substance as well. A good number of famous French women in history and in modern times have made significant contributions to various fields. 

Let’s get to know some of these women who have made a difference in France.

10 Famous French Women Who Have Made A Difference In France

1. Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc)

Famous for:

– mysticism and martyrdom

– being a national heroine and patron saint of France

Long before Joan of Arc was canonized in the Vatican, she had already been a folk saint among French Catholics and soldiers. But who was Joan of Arc?

Nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans,” Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, France, in 1412 to poor but pious tenant farmers.

As a child, she had mystical visions encouraging her to piety. These visions became more vivid over time with St. Michael and St. Catherine designating her as the savior of France.

At age 18, Joan of Arc led the French army to victory over the English at the Battle of Orléans, getting captured a year later. The English and their French collaborators accused her of heresy and burned her at the stake. 

Joan of Arc was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint 500 years after her death. Her name is perhaps the most recognizable of all French women in history.

READ MORE: Interesting Facts About Joan of Arc.

2. Marie-Antoinette

Famous for:

– being the last queen of France

– her role in the French revolution and the abolition of the French monarchy

Marie Antoinette was the queen consort of Louis XVI, the last king of France. 

Born Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna von Österreich-Lothringen in 1755 in Vienna, Austria, she was only 14 years old when she married Louis XVI.

She was not very popular as a queen, with her dismissal of reform and resistance to the French Revolution leading to the monarchy’s overthrow in 1792.

Marie-Antoinette was accused and declared guilty of plunder, conspiracy against the State, and high treason. She was sentenced to die by the guillotine, which she did on 16 October 1793.

3. Brigitte Bardot

Famous for:

– her acting career

– being a sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s

– animal rights activism

Perhaps no other French actress and sex symbol have made a greater difference not only in France but in the whole world than Brigitte Bardot. 

Born to a bourgeois Parisian family in 1934, Brigitte Bardot started acting at the age of 18. She became known for her sexy roles, first gaining international recognition in the 1956 movie And God Created Woman.

In 1973, Brigitte Bardot retired from the entertainment industry, after more than 40 movies and several music albums. She then used her fame and influence to promote animal rights, establishing the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals in 1986.

Brigitte Bardot remains a major popular culture icon and one of the most influential French women to this day.

4. Simone de Beauvoir

Famous for:

– being a writer, intellectual, existentialist, feminist, social theorist, and political activist

– her life-long relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre

Born in Paris, France, in 1908, Simone de Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, and autobiographies as well as monographs on philosophy, social issues, and politics.

She had a significant influence on the feminist movement. She was also most known for having been the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s partner until his death.

Simone de Beauvoir died in 1986 and is buried next to Sartre at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.

5. Coco Chanel

Famous for:

– her classic innovations in fashion such as the woman’s suit and “the little black dress,” quilted purse, costume jewelry, and the Chanel No. 5 perfume

Born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in 1883 to a poor family in Saumur, France, Coco Chanel, and her siblings were uneducated.

She worked as a seamstress, having learned sewing as a child. She also sang in a cabaret where she got the name “Coco” for having spent her nights often singing the song, “Who Has Seen Coco?”

A wealthy English boyfriend financed Coco Chanel’s first shops, which kept growing even after her death in 1971. 

Coco Chanel is synonymous with fashion, being the only fashion designer that made it on Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Hands down, she is one of the most iconic French women to ever walk the earth and remained the most influential French people.

READ MORE: Interesting Facts About Coco Chanel.

6. Edith Piaf

Famous for:

– being France’s national chanteuse and an international star

– her signature song, “La Vie en Rose”

The famous French singer and songwriter Édith Piaf was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Paris, France, in 1915. Known for her music that was often based on her own life, she made it big on sad love songs. 

Her singing career began in the streets in her teens.

At 20, she worked at a nightclub where she acquired her stage name which meant “the Little Sparrow,” thanks to her small stature.

In 1945, Piaf wrote and sang her signature song, “La Vie en Rose.” It remains one of the best known French songs with numerous covers done by the likes of Andrea Bocelli and Lady Gaga. 

READ MORE : Interesting Facts About Edith Piaf.

7. Camille Claudel

Famous for:

– her sculptures

– being Auguste Rodin’s sometime lover

Perhaps the most tragic on the list, Camille Claudel lived the last 30 years of her life in an asylum for the insane at Montfavet, France.

A woman genius, beautiful as well as brilliant with an iron will, she was never rewarded in her lifetime. She died in loneliness, poverty, and relative obscurity. 

Born to a family of farmers and gentry in northern France in 1864, Miss Claudel moved to Paris to pursue her art at the age of 16. There the famous Auguste Rodin became her mentor and, eventually, lover. 

The originality and quality of her work only gained recognition posthumously. A museum dedicated to her was opened in 2017 in Nogent-sur-Seine. There is also a room that features her works at the Musée Rodin in Paris.

8. Marie Curie

Famous for:

– the theory of radioactivity

– her discovery of the elements polonium and radium

– being the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris

– being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize

– being the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two sciences

Born Marie Salomea Skłodowska in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867, Marie Curie moved to Paris, France, to earn her higher degrees at the age of 24. There she married the French physicist Pierre Curie, becoming a French citizen. 

She shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband and the physicist Henri Becquerel in 1903 for their theory of radioactivity. She won another Nobel Prize eight years later, this time in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium.

Marie Curie acquired an illness due to her exposure to radiation, dying in Passy, France, at the age of 66.

Apart from her two Nobel Prizes, she was awarded numerous other honors and tributes during her lifetime and even after her passing.

9. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

Famous for:

– co-discovering HIV

– the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

One of France’s Nobel Awardees, virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was born in 1947 in Paris. Her interest in science started at a very young age.

Miss Barré-Sinoussi and her mentor, Luc Montagnier, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for their discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of AIDS. 

In addition to her Nobel Prize, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi has also received numerous awards, including honorary Doctor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees. 

She is widely recognized for her tireless engagement in the fight against AIDS and HIV.

10. Ségolène Royal

Famous for:

– being a prominent political figure and running for president of France in 2007

Ségolène Royal is a well-known figure in today’s French politics. She has held several government positions and became the first woman in France to be nominated as a presidential candidate by a major party. She, however, lost the 2007 presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Born Marie-Ségolène Royal in 1953 in a French army base in what is now Senegal, she went on to study economics at a university, graduating second in her class. She served as an adviser to former French Pres. François Mitterrand after graduation.

She has four children with her former partner of 30 years, the former French president François Hollande. 

In her 2018 Royal memoir called Ce que je peux enfin vous dire (“What I Can Finally Tell You”), she wrote about sexism and other challenges she faced in her political career.