1917 births

Eva Wenche Steenfeldt Stang (5 December 1917 – 28 March 2011), better known as Wenche Foss (Norwegian: [ˈvɛ̂ŋkə ˈfɔsː]), was a leading Norwegian actress of stage, screen and television.

Pierre Deniker (16 February 1917, in Paris – 17 August 1998) was involved, jointly with Jean Delay and J. M. Harl, in the introduction of chlorpromazine (Thorazine), the first antipsychotic used in the treatment of schizophrenia, in the 1950s. Thorazine had been used in surgical procedures peri-operatively as an anti-nausea medication in France. Patients were noted to be less anxious and calmer. This observation eventually led Deniker to try chlorpromazine with patients who had schizophrenia, where he observed notable improvement in symptoms.
The pharmaceutical company Smith-Kline had purchased the chlorpromazine rights from Rhone-Poulenc in France and had been marketing it as an anti-nausea medication. After Deniker's observations, they sought and received FDA approval in 1954 to market Thorazine for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Paul Tessier (August 1917 – June 6, 2008) was a French maxillofacial surgeon. He was considered the father of modern craniofacial surgery.

Marcel Hansenne (January 24, 1917 – March 22, 2002) was a French middle distance runner, who won the bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London over 800 m in a time of 1:49.8 min. The race was won by Mal Whitfield. Hansenne also equalled Rune Gustafsson's 1000 m world record of 2:21.4 in Gothenburg in 1948. Hansenne was born in Tourcoing.

Jean Hermil (September 24, 1917 in Charolles – March 10, 2006 in Viviers) was Roman Catholic bishop of Viviers, France.
He was ordained a priest on July 5, 1942 at Autun. He was appointed auxiliary bishop there on May 15, 1963, and simultaneously appointed titular bishop of Marida, with formal ordination on July 2 – being the last holder of that office. On December 14, 1965, he was appointed bishop of Viviers, a position he held until retirement on October 15, 1992.

Maurice Arreckx (13 December 1917 - 21 March 2001) was a French politician. He served as the mayor of Toulon from 1959 to 1985. He served as a member of the National Assembly from 1978 to 1981, and again in 1986, before serving as a member of the French Senate from 1986 to 1995.

José María Gironella Pous, known in Catalan as Josep Maria Gironella i Pous (31 December 1917 in Darnius – 3 January 2003 in Arenys de Mar) was a Catalonian Spanish author best known for his fictional work The Cypresses Believe in God (Los cipreses creen en Dios), which was published in Spain in 1953 and translated into English in 1955 by Harriet de Onís (1899-1969), a translator who usually specialized in Latin-American fiction.

Jean-Baptiste Duroselle (17 November 1917, Paris – 12 September 1994, Arradon) was a French historian and professor. He had initially considered an army career or study of geography, but his poor skills in mathematics and drawing led him to turn to historical study. Pierre Renouvin's course fascinated him, and he became his assistant in 1945. He went on to teach at University of Saarbrücken from 1950 to 1957 and returned to the Sorbonne afterward. Between 1977 and 1979, he was visiting professor of the history of international relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Duroselle's writings include La Decadence (1980), L'Abime (1985), and others. Duroselle was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1975. He was noted for his study of international relations and won a 1982 Balzan Prize for Social Sciences for his work.Among his students was Élisabeth Du Réau, biographer of Édouard Daladier. He supervised her 1987, eight-volume thesis on Daladier, published in condensed form in 1993 as Édouard Daladier, 1884-1970.

Philippe Ragueneau (19 November 1917 – 22 October 2003) was a French journalist and writer. He was born in Orléans (Loiret) and died in Gordes (Vaucluse). Ragueneau was a resistance and then military fighter during World War II, and friend of the General Charles de Gaulle.After the war, Reguneneau became a journalist and a political ally of de Gaulle, joining his cabinet in 1958. In the 1970s, he was a television writer and producer.

Dominique Ponchardier (March 3, 1917, Saint-Étienne – April 17, 1986, Nice) was a French author and screenwriter who had been a member of the French Resistance during World War II, and later held positions as an intelligence officer, diplomat, colonial administrator and company president. He was a long-standing follower of Charles de Gaulle, at different times working for him in underground, intelligence, political, civil and diplomatic capacities.