French religious leaders

Abhishiktananda (Sanskrit: अभिषिक्तानन्द, romanized: Abhiṣiktānanda; 30 August 1910, in Saint Briac, Brittany – 7 December 1973, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India), born Henri Le Saux, was a French-born Indian monk. He moved to India in 1948 in search of a more radical form of spiritual life, adopted sannyasa in accordance with Indian tradition and became one of the pioneers of Hindu-Christian dialogue. Multiple contacts with prominent saints such as Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Gnanananda Giri and Sri H.W.L. Poonja, led him to profound advaitic experience as well as to final recognition of the truth of advaita during the last years of his life.

Raël (born Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon, 30 September 1946) is a French journalist who founded and leads the Raëlian Movement, an international UFO religion.
Before becoming a religious leader, Raël, then known as Claude Vorilhon, worked as a sports-car journalist and test driver for his car-racing magazine, Autopop. Following a purported extraterrestrial encounter in December 1973, he formed the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël. He later published several books, which detail the encounter with a being called Yahweh in 1973. He traveled the world to promote his books for over 30 years.