Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (7 November 1838 – 19 August 1889) was a French symbolist writer. His family called him Mathias while his friends called him Villiers; he would also use the name Auguste when publishing some of his books.
Hervé Auguste Étienne Albans Faye ((1814-10-01)1 October 1814 – (1902-07-04)4 July 1902) was a French astronomer, born at Saint-Benoît-du-Sault (Indre) and educated at the École Polytechnique, which he left in 1834, before completing his course, to accept a position in the Paris Observatory to which he had been appointed on the recommendation of M. Arago. It was during his time at the École Polytechnique that he developed his interest in astronomy.He studied comets, and discovered the periodic comet 4P/Faye on 22 November 1843. His discovery of "Faye's Comet" attracted worldwide attention, and won him the 1844 Lalande Prize and a membership in the French Academy of Sciences. In 1848 he became an instructor in geodesy at the Polytechnique, and in 1854 rector of the academy at Nancy and professor of astronomy in the faculty of science there. Other promotions followed in succeeding decades. He became Minister of Public Instruction in the Rochebouet cabinet in 1877, a position which he held only briefly.
Faye served as the President of the Société Astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society, from 1889 to 1891. He also served as president of the International Geodetic Association from 1892 to 1902.His work covered the entire field of astronomical investigation. It comprised the determination of comet periods, the measurement of parallaxes, and the study of stellar and planetary movements. He also studied the physics of the sun. He advanced several original theories on the nature and form of comets, meteors, the aurora borealis, and the sun.
Jérôme Jean Louis Marie Lejeune (13 June 1926 – 3 April 1994) was a French pediatrician and geneticist, best known for his work on the link of diseases to chromosome abnormalities, most especially the link between Down Syndrome and trisomy-21 and cri du chat syndrome, amongst several others, and for his subsequent strong opposition to, in his opinion, the improper and immoral use of amniocentesis prenatal testing for eugenic purposes through selective and elective abortion. He is venerated in the Catholic Church, having been declared Venerable by Pope Francis on 21 January 2021.
Jean Royer (31 October 1920 – 25 March 2011) was a French catholic and conservative politician, former Minister, and former Mayor of Tours.
Pierre Abelin (May 16, 1909 – May 23, 1977) was a French Christian Democratic politician, parliamentarian and government minister. Abelin took part in the founding of the Popular Republican Movement (MRP). An adherent of the notion of building a 'third force' in French politics, he retained a staunch anti-Gaullist stance. He later became the general secretary of the Democratic Centre.Abelin was born and died in Poitiers. He represented the Vienne constituency in the first and second Constituent National Assemblies. He was Member of Parliament from Vienee between 1946 and 1958, and again from 1962 to 1974.He served as Secretary of State to the Presiding Council November 1947-July 1948, and in September 1948, as Secretary of State for Finances September 1952 to January 1953 and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs March 1955 to January 1956.Abelin moved to Châtellerault, where he was elected to the municipal council. He later became the mayor of Châtellerault.Abelin served as president of the High Council on Cooperation with Foreign Countries between 1956 and 1958. On June 17, 1957 he became the president of the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. He also held positions in the United Nations.After the split in the Democratic Centre following the 1969 presidential election, the group led by Abelin and Jean Lecanuet (who rejected any reconciliation with the Gaullists) moved to form an alliance with the Radical Party. Abelin became one of the leaders of the new alliance, the Reforming Movement.He was Minister of Cooperation between May 27, 1974 to January 12, 1976. In his function as minister he initiated the process which would lead to the signing of the Lomé Convention in 1975.Pierre Abelin was the father of Jean-Pierre Abelin, who (as of 2009) is the mayor of Châtellerault.
Gérard Paul Louis Marie-Joseph Mulliez (born 13 May 1931) is a French entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Auchan chain of department stores.
Catherine Joséphine "Katia" Krafft (née Conrad; 17 April 1942 – 3 June 1991) and her husband, Maurice Paul Krafft (25 March 1946 – 3 June 1991) were French volcanologists and filmmakers who died in a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen, Nagasaki, Japan, on 3 June 1991. The Kraffts became well known as pioneers in the filming, photographing, and recording of volcanoes, often coming within feet of lava flows. Their obituary appeared in the Bulletin of Volcanology. Since their deaths, their work has been featured in two documentary films by Werner Herzog, Into the Inferno (2016) and The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft (2022), and a further film, Fire of Love (2022), depicted their lives, relationship and careers using their archived footage.
André Frossard (14 January 1915 – 2 February 1995) was a French journalist and essayist.
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (French: [vɛ̃sɑ̃ dɛ̃di]; 27 March 1851 – 2 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Paris Conservatoire. His students included Albéric Magnard, Albert Roussel, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and Erik Satie, as well as Cole Porter.
D'Indy studied under composer César Franck, and was strongly influenced by Franck's admiration for German music. At a time when nationalist feelings were high in both countries (circa the Franco-Prussian War of 1871), this brought Franck into conflict with other musicians who wished to separate French music from German influence.
Joseph Fontanet (9 February 1921 – 2 February 1980) was an assassinated member of the French Parliament.
He was born in, Frontenex, Savoie. He was first elected to Parliament in 1956 as MP for Savoie. In his 17 years in Parliament he held various cabinet positions including Health, Labour and Employment, and Trade and Industry. On 1 February 1980 he was shot shortly after midnight in Paris and died the following day. No one has ever been convicted for the murder.