Find out more about the greatest 20th Century French Scientists, including Alexander Grothendieck, Cédric Villani, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Serge Haroche and Jean-Pierre Serre.
Marie Curie07 November 1867
First woman to win a Nobel Prize
René Girard25 December 1923
Philosopher
Alexander Grothendieck28 March 1928
Mathematician
Frédéric Joliot-Curie19 March 1900
Physicist
Jacques Monod09 February 1910
Biologist
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji01 April 1933
Physicist
François Jacob17 June 1920
Biologist
Georges Charpak01 August 1924
Physicist
Roger Guillemin11 January 1924
Physiologist
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes24 October 1932
Physicist
Louis Néel22 November 1904
Physicist
Alfred Kastler03 May 1902
Physicist
Jean-Marie Lehn30 September 1939
Chemist
Jean Dausset19 October 1916
Immunologist
Andre Weil06 May 1906
Mathematician
André Lwoff08 May 1902
Microbiologist
Benoit Mandelbrot20 November 1924
Mathematician, Economist, Professor, Scientist,
Cédric Villani05 October 1973
Mathematician, Physicist, University teacher
Luc Montagnier18 August 1932
Physician, Biologist, Virologist, Researcher,
Pierre Joliot12 March 1932
Biologist, Biochemist, Professor
Matthieu Ricard15 February 1946
Molecular biologist, Photographer, Bhikkhu,
Jean-Pierre Serre15 September 1926
Mathematician, Topologist, Professor
Audrey Mestre11 August 1974
Free-diver, Marine biologist
Fred Vargas07 June 1957
Writer, Archaeologist, Novelist, Historian
Raymond Queneau21 February 1903
Poet, Playwright, Novelist, Writer, Screenwriter,
Peter Grünberg18 May 1939
Physicist, University teacher
Albert Fert07 March 1938
Physicist, University teacher
Serge Lang19 May 1927
Mathematician
Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov23 December 1943
Mathematician, University teacher
Pierre Duhem10 June 1861
Historian
Maxim Kontsevich25 August 1964
Mathematician, Topologist
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Serge Haroche11 September 1944
Physicist, University teacher
Philippe Kahn16 March 1952
Entrepreneur, Computer scientist
Henri Cartan08 July 1904
Mathematician
Laurent Schwartz05 March 1915
Mathematician, University teacher, Entomologist
Jacques Tits12 August 1930
Mathematician, University teacher, Professor
Alain Aspect15 June 1947
Physicist
David Servan-Schreiber21 April 1961
Neuroscientist and psychiatrist
Alain Connes01 April 1947
Mathematician, Professor
Sergei Winogradsky01 September 1856
Microbiologist
Paul Painlevé05 December 1863
Mathematician
Jacques Benveniste12 March 1935
Physician, Immunologist
Pierre-Louis Lions11 August 1956
Mathematician
Didier Sornette25 June 1957
Physicist, Economist
Jean-Pierre Sauvage21 October 1944
Chemist
René Thom02 September 1923
Mathematician, University teacher
Joseph Sifakis26 December 1946
Computer scientist
Albert Calmette12 July 1863
Physician
Jean Dieudonné01 July 1906
Mathematician
Wendelin Werner23 September 1968
Mathematician
Pierre Bézier01 September 1910
Engineer, Mathematician, Computer scientist
Jean-Christophe Yoccoz29 May 1957
Mathematician
René Dubos20 February 1901
Microbiologist
Laurent Lafforgue06 November 1966
Mathematician
Maurice René Fréchet02 September 1878
Mathematician
Henri Breuil28 February 1877
Archaeologist
Joseph Bertrand11 March 1822
Mathematician
Maurice Taieb22 July 1935
Geologist