1909 births

The artist André Hambourg (5 May 1909 – 4 December 1999) was a French painter of romantic compositions of Venice, luminous seascapes, and beach scenes.

Pierre Cloarec (14 March 1909 – 7 December 1994) was a French professional road bicycle racer. During his career, he won two stages in the Tour de France.

Pierre Gabriel Adhéaume de Chevigné (16 June 1909 – 4 April 2004) was a French politician, who was the Minister of Defence in the Fourth Republic between 14 May and 1 June 1958.

Georges Roger Pierre Bergé (3 January 1909 – 15 September 1997) was a French Army general who served during World War II. He enlisted in the Free French Forces, where he took command of the 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes (1st Parachute Chaser Company). He is mentioned by David Stirling as one of the co-founders of the Special Air Service (SAS). In Britain and Egypt, he organised the training for Allied agents sent to France and led the first airborne mission in occupied France, named Operation Savannah. He fought in Syria and Crete. After his capture by the Germans, he was imprisoned in Colditz Castle.

Raymond Oliver (27 March 1909 – 5 November 1990) was a French chef and owner of Le Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris, one of France's great historical restaurants. Oliver detested nouvelle cuisine, preferring the rich ingredients favored by the chefs in his native Gascony.Oliver, who was born in Langon in the Bordeaux region of France, was the son and grandson of cooks. His maternal grandmother gave him his first instruction in cooking as a boy, and he began his apprenticeship as a chef under his father at the age of 15.
For more than 35 years, he was the owner of Le Grand Vefour on the Rue de Beaujolais in the Palais-Royal district. His celebrity clientele ranged from statesmen like Winston Churchill and Andre Malraux, to writers including Albert Camus and Georges Simenon, to the industrialists and financiers Henry Ford and David Rockefeller. The Aga Khan, and Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco were among his appreciative clients, as were Jean Cocteau and Colette.
During World War II, Oliver operated a hotel in the French Alps, organized a Resistance cell, and hid Allied airmen who had been shot down on bombing missions. He sheltered an 11-man American bomber crew until the liberation and was later decorated by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1948, he purchased Le Grand Vefour, a restaurant dating to 1784. Six years after Oliver bought the restaurant, it was awarded the prized third star by the Michelin Guide (France's atlas to good dining), one of only a handful of kitchens that were so honored at that time.
Oliver published La Cuisine, a detailed technical cookbook, in 1967 and hosted a popular cooking show on television called Art et magie de la cuisine. He also served as one of the eleven judges at the Judgment of Paris.He was mentioned in a 1977 episode of Three's Company when Jack was jealous of Chrissy's date because he met Oliver.

Claude Bourdet (28 October 1909 – 20 March 1996) was a writer, journalist, polemist, and militant French politician.

Madeleine Barot (4 July 1909 in Châteauroux – 28 December 1995 in Paris) was a French activist and theologian, who was influential in Protestant, humanist, and human rights movements.

Pierre Charles Albert Marie Langlais (2 December 1909 – 17 July 1986) was a senior French military officer who fought in World War II and the First Indochina War. Hailing from the Brittany region of France, Langlais was known as a tough and uncompromising character with an "unflagging devotion to his men."After serving the majority of his career in France's North African colonies before the Second World War, Langlais became best known for his role in the Indochina War where he commanded paratroop forces and became the de facto commander of the French garrison in the midst of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Gaston Gilbert Litaize (11 August 1909 – 5 August 1991) was a French organist and composer. Considered one of the 20th century masters of the French organ, he toured, recorded, worked at churches, and taught students in and around Paris. Blind from infancy, he studied and taught for most of his life at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (National Institute for the Blind).

Zora Arkus-Duntov (December 25, 1909 – April 21, 1996) was a Belgian-born American engineer whose work on the Chevrolet Corvette earned him the nickname "Father of the Corvette.": 6  He is sometimes erroneously referred to as the inventor of the Corvette, whereas that title belongs to Harley Earl. He was also a professional racing driver, appearing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times and taking class wins in 1954 and 1955.