This is a list of notable French people who were born outside present-day Metropolitan France or Overseas France.
A Adel Abdessemed - contemporary artist, born in Constantine, Algeria Lucien Agoumé - footballer, born in Yaounde, Cameroon Vincent Aka-Akesse – wrestler, born in N'zi-Comoé, Côte d'Ivoire Louis Althusser - Marxist philosopher, born in Bir Mourad Raïs, French Algeria (now Algeria) Amine - singer, born in Casablanca, Morocco Florent Amodio - figure skating coach, and former competitor, born in Sobral, Brazil Manuel Anatol – footballer, born in Irun, Spain Anggun – singer-songwriter, born in Jakarta, Indonesia Guillaume Apollinaire - poet, playwright, writer, novelist, and art critic, born in Rome, Kingdom of Italy (now Italy) Rachid Arhab - journalist and a member of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), born in Larbaâ Nath Irathen, French Algeria (now Algeria) Aure Atika - actress, writer, and director, born in Estoril, Portugal Arthur - TV presenter, born in Casablanca, Morocco Yvan Attal - actor, scriptwriter, and film director, born in Tel Aviv, Israel Jacques Attali - economic and social theorist, writer, political adviser and senior civil servant, born in Algiers, French Algeria (now Algeria) John James Audubon, self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist, born in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) Anne of Austria - Queen of France from 1615 to 1643, born in Valladolid, Kingdom of Spain (now Spain) Marie Antoinette of Austria - Queen of France from 1774 to 1792, born in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire (now Austria) Daniel Auteuil - actor, and director, born in Algiers, French Algeria (now Algeria)
B Jean-Pierre Bacri - actor, and screenwriter, born in Bou Ismaïl, French Algeria (now Algeria) Auguste of Baden-Baden - Duchess of Orléans - born in Aschaffenburg, Electorate of Bavaria (now Germany) Mansour Bahrami – tennis player, born in Arak, Imperial State of Iran (now Iran) Josephine Baker - dancer, singer, and actress, born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States Édouard Balladur – former Prime Minister of France, born in Izmir, Turkey Isabeau of Bavaria - Queen of France from 1385 to 1422, born in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria (now Germany) Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria - Dauphine of France from 1680 to 1690, born in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria (now Germany) Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria - Duchess of Alençon, born in Pöcking, Kingdom of Bavaria (now Germany) Guy Bedos - actor, screenwriter, and comedian, born in Algiers, French Algeria (now Algeria) Bérénice Bejo - actress, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina Abdelatif Benazzi - former rugby union player, born in Oujda, Morocco Astrid Bergès-Frisbey - actress, and model, born in Barcelona, Spain Serge Betsen - former rugby union player, born in Kumba, Cameroon Jane Birkin - actress, singer, and designer, born in Marylebone, England, United Kingdom Serge Blanco - former rugby union rugby, born in Caracas, Venezuela Frida Boccara - singer, born in Casablanca, French Morocco (now Morocco) Aliette de Bodard - writer, born in New York City, New York, United States Isabelle Boni-Claverie - author, screenwriter, and film director, born in Tiassalé, Ivory Coast Michel Boujenah - actor, comedian, film director, and screenwriter, born in Tunis, French Tunisia (now Tunisia) Jean-Alain Boumsong - former footballer, born in Douala, Cameroon Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies - Duchess of Aumale, born in Vienna, Austrian Empire (now Austria) Didier Bourdon - actor, screenwriter, and film director, born in Algiers, French Algeria (now Algeria) Sofia Boutella - actress, dancer, and model, born in Bab El Oued, Algeria Marie of Brabant - Queen of France from 1274 to 1285, born in Leuven, Duchy of Brabant, Holy Roman Empire (now Belgium) Constantin Brâncuși – sculptor, painter, and photographer, born in Hobița, Romania Francisca of Brazil - Princess of Joinville, born in Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil (now Brazil) Patrick Bruel - singer, songwriter, actor and professional poker player, born in Tlemcen, French Algeria (now Algeria) Carla Bruni – model, singer, former first lady of France, born in Turin, Italy Ettore Bugatti - automobile designer, and manufacturer, born in Milan, Kingdom of Italy (now Italy) Khatia Buniatishvili - concert pianist, born in Batumi, Georgian SSR (now Georgia)
C Eduardo Camavinga - footballer, born in Cabinda, Angola Albert Camus - philosopher, writer, author, journalist, and political activist, born in Dréan, French Tunisia (now Algeria)µ Pierre Cardin - fashion designer, born in San Biagio di Callalta, Kingdom of Italy (now Italy) Amira Casar - actress, born in London, England, United Kingdom Ana Cata-Chitiga - basketball player, born in Bucharest, Romania Alain Chabat - actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, producer and television presenter, born in Oran, French Algeria (now Algeria) Timothée Chalamet - actor, born in New York City, New York, United States Frédéric Chau - actor, born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Jacques Cheminade – politician, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina François Cheng - academician, writer, peot, and calligrapher, born in Nanchang, China Frédéric François Chopin - composer and virtuoso pianist, born in , Żelazowa Wola, Poland William Christie – musician, born in Buffalo, New York, United States Amal Clooney - international human rights lawyer, born in Beirut, Lebanon George Clooney - actor and filmmaker, born in Lexington, Kentucky, United States Alexandre Colonna-Walewski Count of the Empire and the unacknowledged son of Napoleon Bonaparte - born in Walewice, Duchy of Warsaw (now Poland) Julio Cortázar - novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and translator, born in Ixelles, Belgium Cristina Córdula - television presenter, fashion consultant, and former fashion model, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Sergio Coronado - politician, born in Osorno, Chile Dorothea of Courland - Duchess of Dino, Talleyrand and Sagan, born in Friedrichsfelde, Prussia (now Germany) Marie Curie – physicist, chemist, born in Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland (now Poland)
D Vencelas Dabaya – weightlifter, born in Kumba, Cameroon Dalida – singer, born in Cairo, Egypt (now Egypt) Joe Dassin - singer, and songwriter, born in New York City, New York, United States Anne-Marie David - singer, born in Casablanca, French Morocco (now Morocco) Hind Dehiba - runner, born in Bejaâd, Morocco Marcel Desailly - former footballer, born in Accra, Ghana Antoinette Nana Djimou - heptathlete and pentathlete, born in Douala, Cameroon Leonora Dori - courtier, born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy) Cédric Doumbé - professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, born in Douala, Cameroon Diam's - rapper, born in Nicosia, Cyprus Didier Drogba – footballer, born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast Filippa Duci - noblewoman and mistress of Henry II of France, born in Moncalieri, Savoyard state (now Italy) Thomas-Alexandre Dumas - army officier, born in Jérémie, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) Marguerite Duras - novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker, born in Saigon, French Cochinchina (now Vietnam)
E Virginie Efira - actress, born in Brussels, Belgium Myriam El Khomri - politician, born in Rabat, Morocco Gad Elmaleh - comedian, and actor, born in Casablanca, Morocco Boughera El Ouafi - athlete, born in Ouled Djellal, French Algeria (now Algeria) Zineb El Rhazoui - journalist, born in Casablanca, Morocco Gévrise Émane - judoka, born in Yaounde, Cameroon Henrietta of England - Duchess of Orléans, born in Exeter, England (now United Kingdom) Deniz Gamze Ergüven - film director, born in Ankara, Turkey Sofia Essaïdi - singer, and actress, born in Casablanca, Morocco Maria Teresa Felicitas d'Este - Duchess of Penthièvre, born in Modena, Modena (now Italy) Patrice Evra – footballer, born in Dakar, Senegal
F Golshifteh Farahani - actress, born in Teheran, Imperial State of Iran (now Iran) Mylène Farmer - singer, and songwriter, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Luis Fernandez - football manager, and former footballer, born in Tarifa, Spain Penelope Fillon - Former politician, born in Llanover, Wales, United Kingdom Tsuguharu Foujita - painter, born in Tokyo, Japan Laurence Fournier Beaudry - ice dancer, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Claude François - singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer, and dancer, born in Ismailia, Egypt (now Egypt)
G Charlotte Gainsbourg - singer, and actress, born in London, England, United Kingdom Adelina Galyavieva - ice dancer, born in Kazan, Russia Erol Gelenbe - computer scientist, electronic engineer, and applied mathematician, born in Istanbul, Turkey Franz-Olivier Giesbert - journalist, author, and TV presenter, born in Wilmington, Delaware, United States Chantal Goya - singer, and actress, born in Saigon, French Cochinchina (now Vietnam) Catherine Grand - courtesan and noblewoman, born in Tranquebar, Danish India (now India) Greg – cartoonist, born in Ixelles, Belgium Élisabeth Guigou – politician, born in Marrakesh, French Morocco (now Morocco)
H Gisèle Halimi - lawyer, politician, essayist, and feminist, Tunis, French Tunisia (now Tunisia) Rima Hassan - Jurist and politician, Neirab camp, Aleppo, Syria Olivia de Havilland - actress, born in Tokyo, Japan (to British parents) Émile Henry - individualist and illegalist anarchist militant and terrorist, born in Barcelona, Spain Anne Hidalgo – Mayor of Paris, born in San Fernando, Spain Clementia of Hungary - Queen of France and Navarre from 1315 to 1316, born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples (now Italy)
I Eugène Ionesco – playwright, born in Slatina, Romania
J Vanessa James - pair skater, born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada Alejandro Jodorowsky - filmmaker, born in Tocopilla, Chile Eva Joly – politician, born in Grünerløkka, Oslo, Norway Lloyd Jones – ice skater, born in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
K Anna Karina - actress, model, director, writer, and singer, born in Frederiksberg, Denmark Roger Karoutchi - politician, and teacher, born in Casablanca, French Morocco (now Morocco) Tchéky Karyo - actor, and musician, born in Istanbul, Turkey Abdellatif Kechiche - film director, screenwriter, and actor, born in Tunis, Tunisia Jirès Kembo Ekoko - former footballer, born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) Khaled - singer, musician, and songwriter, born in Oran, French Algeria (now Algeria) Lyna Khoudri - actress, born in Algiers, Algeria Margaret Kelly - dancer, born in Dublin, Great Britain and Ireland (now Ireland) Pom Klementieff - actress, born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Pavel Kovalev - figure skater, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia Olga Kurylenko - actress, born in Berdiansk, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine)
L Ariane Labed - actress, and film director, born in Athens, Greece Joseph-Louis Lagrange - mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, born in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy) Joël Lautier - chess grandmaster, born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada Pierre Lellouche – politician, born in Tunis, French Tunisia (now Tunisia) Axelle Lemaire – lawyer and former politician, born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Marie Leszczyńska - Queen of France from 1725 to 1768, born in Trzebnica, Duchy of Oels (now Poland) Evgeniia Lopareva - ice dancer, born in Moscow, Russia Jean-Baptiste Lully - composer, dancer, and instrumentalist, born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy) Bonne of Luxembourg - wife of the Crown Prince of France, born in Prague, Bohemia (now Czech Republic)
M Amin Maalouf - author, born in Beirut, Lebanon Ibrahim Maalouf - trumpeter, producer, arranger, and composer, born in Beirut, Lebanon Enrico Macias - singer, songwriter, and musician, born in Constantine, French Algeria