Louis Favoreu (September 5, 1936 – September 1, 2004) was a French academic, specialized in public law, and a jurist. He was born in Lucq-de-Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and died in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). He was also a law professor, a senior faculty member and President of Paul Cézanne University.
Charly Grosskost (5 March 1944 – 19 June 2004) was a French racing cyclist who, in 1968, won the prologue time trial of both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. He won stages of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, and on the track, he was French pursuit champion nine times. His sporting career began with A.C.B.B. Paris.
Bernard Saint-Hillier (29 December 1911 – 28 July 2004) was a French general.
Saint-Hillier graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1933 and was affected to the 11th Chasseurs alpins Battalion. In 1938, he joined the French Foreign Legion with the rank of captain. He sided with the Fighting French and took part in the East African Campaign with the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade.
In 1943, he was promoted to commandant, and to lieutenant-colonel in 1944. He took command of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade on the 25 March 1945. From 1946, he was affected to the general staff of the Armed Forces, where he spent two years.
In 1951, he was promoted to colonel, and led the 18th paratrooper regiment, until he departed to Indochina in 1954. On his return, he studied at the Institut des hautes études de la défense nationale.
In 1958, Saint-Hillier was chief of the general staff in Constantine, Algeria. Promoted to general of brigade in 1959, he became chief of cabinet of the Minister of Defence. From 1960 to 1961, he commanded the 10th Parachute Division. He was French military representative to the European Allied command in 1962.
In 1965, he was promoted to general of division, and served as inspector of the staffs of the Army. Saint-Hillier was promoted to Général de corps d'armée in 1968, commanding the 3rd Military Region in Rennes, and sitting at the Conseil supérieur de la Guerre.
He retired in 1971.
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.
Simone Del Duca (18 July 1912 – 16 May 2004) was a French businesswoman, a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and major philanthropist. Married to French publishing magnate Cino Del Duca, on his death in 1967 she was left with a considerable fortune. Although she remained on the board of directors of her late husband's companies, Simone Del Duca devoted a great deal of her time to philanthropic causes. In 1969 she established a prestigious literary prize in her husband's name. The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca provides a substantial cash prize and was made open to qualified persons from anywhere in the world.
Simone Del Duca's charitable activities increased to where in 1975 she created the Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation. The Foundation's primary involvements gave support for scientific research and after being made a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1994 she funded two major prizes in visual arts and music awarded through the Académie. Simone Del Duca's philanthropic work was recognized by the government of France who made her a commander of the Legion of Honor.
Jacques Rouxel (26 February 1931 – 25 April 2004), born in Cherbourg, France, was a film animator. He is said to have been on a par with Tex Avery. Rouxel is perhaps best known for his initially controversial animated French TV series Les Shadoks, which first appeared in 1968.
Rouxel graduated from the Lycée Français de New York in 1946 and obtained a business degree from the École des Hautes études commerciales.
He worked on the prototype of a special machine, the "Animographe", especially designed to accelerate the production of animated TV series.
Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor.
Jean-Philippe Charbonnier (28 August 1921 – 28 May 2004) was a French photographer whose works typify the humanist impulse in that medium in his homeland of the period after World War II.
Samira Bellil (24 November 1972 – 4 September 2004) was a French feminist activist and a campaigner for the rights of girls and women.
Bellil became famous in France with the publication of her autobiographical book Dans l'enfer des tournantes ('In the hell of the "tournantes" (gang-rapes) in 2002. The book discusses the violence she and other young women endured in the predominantly North African and Arab immigrant outskirts of Paris, where she was repeatedly gang-raped as a teenager by gangs led by people she knew, and then abandoned by her family and friends.
The book is available in English (translated by Lucy R. McNair) as To Hell and Back: The Life of Samira Bellil.
Ludmilla Tchérina (born Monique Tchemerzine; 10 October 1924 – 21 March 2004) was a French prima ballerina and actress.