Famous French Lawyers & Judges
Find out more about the greatest French Lawyers & Judges, including Maximilien Robespierre, Christine Lagarde, Marine Le Pen, Pierre Laval and Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
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Birthdate: May 6, 1758
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Arras, France
Died: July 28, 1794
Maximilien de Robespierre was a leading left-wing lawyer and leader during the Reign of Terror. He led the Committee of Public Safety and was part of the Constituent Assembly and the Jacobin Club. He was accused of establishing a dictatorship and was guillotined in 1794, thus beginning the Thermidorian Reaction.
2
Pierre Laval
(Politician, Lawyer)
Birthdate: June 28, 1883
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Châteldon
Died: October 15, 1945
Pierre Laval was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for two non-consecutive terms. A lawyer by qualification, he defended trade unions and leftists against government prosecution. As a politician, he held many governmental positions. After the liberation of France in 1944, he was arrested by the new French government and executed following a flawed trial.
3
François Fillon
(Politician, Lawyer, Legislative assistant)
Birthdate: March 4, 1954
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Le Mans
Former prime minister of France and Republican party member François Fillon had also held many important portfolios, such as the ministries of education and ecology. An Anglophile, he is married to a Welsh-born wife. He was later found involved in a fake jobs scandal and was convicted of fund embezzlement.
4
Carlo Buonaparte
(Corsican Lawyer Best Known as the Father of 'Napoleon Bonaparte' and Grandfather of 'Napoleon III')
Birthdate: March 27, 1746
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Ajaccio, France
Died: February 24, 1785
Though he initially studied law, Carlo Buonaparte quit without a degree to take charge of his inheritance after his father’s death. He later served Pasquale Paoli. However, following the French conquest of Corsica, he completed his legal education. He is best remembered as the father of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Birthdate: September 4, 1969
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Toulouse, France
6
Paul Reynaud
(French Lawyer and Politician)
Birthdate: October 15, 1878
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Barcelonnette
Died: September 21, 1966
7
René Coty
(President of France from 1954 to 1959)
Birthdate: March 20, 1882
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Le Havre, France
Died: November 22, 1962
A qualified lawyer, René Coty had been the last president of the Fourth French Republic. His presidency was plagued by issues such as the Algerian question, and his threat to resign during the May 1958 crisis accelerated the election of Charles de Gaulle as the prime minister of France.
8
Guillaume de Nogaret
(Minister)
Birthdate: 1260 AD
Birthplace: Saint-Felix-de-Caraman, France
Died: April 11, 1313
9
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
(Author)
Birthdate: April 1, 1755
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Belley, France
Died: February 2, 1826
10
Camille Desmoulins
(French Politician and Journalist)
Birthdate: March 2, 1760
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Guise
Died: April 5, 1794
11
Léon Gambetta
(Former republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government)
Birthdate: April 2, 1838
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Cahors, France
Died: December 31, 1882
12
Jules Ferry
(Politician, Diplomat, Lawyer, Journalist)
Birthdate: April 5, 1832
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Saint-Dié-des-Vosges
Died: March 17, 1893
Once the prime minister of France, Jules Ferry was a Moderate Republican leader, who is remembered for his efforts in the French colonial expansion. He followed in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer but gained fame as a political critic. He later became increasingly unpopular due to expenditures incurred in wars.
13
Alexandre Millerand
(President of France (1920-1924))
Birthdate: February 10, 1859
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: April 6, 1943
A qualified lawyer, Alexandre Millerand had served as both the president and the prime minister of France. He had also held important portfolios, such as the ministries of war and commerce. He once attempted to increase presidential powers by revising the constitution. His published works include Le Socialisme réformiste.
Birthdate: March 5, 1925
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Ubon Ratchathani
Died: August 15, 2013
Jacques Vergès was a French lawyer, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered for defending the FLN militants during the Algerian War. Nicknamed the Devil's Advocate, Vergès achieved notoriety and attracted widespread public attention for advocating political activism. In the 2010 French-German biographical film Carlos, Jacques Vergès was played by Nicolas Briançon.
15
Isabelle Coutant-Peyre
(Lawyer)
Birthdate: 1952 AD
Birthplace: France
16
Étienne de La Boétie
(Magistrate)
Birthdate: November 1, 1530
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Sarlat-la-Canéda, Périgord, France
Died: August 18, 1563
17
Arnaud Montebourg
(Politician, Lawyer)
Birthdate: October 30, 1962
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Clamecy
Birthdate: October 17, 1253
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Duchy of Brittany
Died: May 19, 1303
Birthdate: July 27, 1927
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: La Goulette, Tunisia
Died: July 28, 2020
Birthdate: October 5, 1887
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Bayonne
Died: February 20, 1976
René Cassin was a French jurist best known for co-authoring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. For this contribution, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. The same year, he also received one of the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Prizes. The René Cassin Award is named in his honor.
21
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
(Former Prime Minister of France)
Birthdate: August 3, 1948
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Poitiers, France
22
Frédéric Ozanam
(Literary Scholar, Lawyer, Journalist And Founder of Society of Saint Vincent de Paul)
Birthdate: April 23, 1813
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: September 8, 1853
Frédéric Ozanam was a French lawyer, literary scholar, equal rights advocate, and journalist. He is credited with co-founding the Conference of Charity, which came to be known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. in 1997, Frédéric Ozanam was beatified at Notre Dame de Paris by Pope John Paul II and his feast day is observed on 9 September.
23
Emmanuel Gaillard
(Lawyer)
Birthdate: January 1, 1952
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: France
24
Fernand de Brinon
(Lawyer and journalist who was one of the architects of French collaboration with the Nazis during World War II)
Birthdate: August 26, 1885
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Libourne, France
Died: April 15, 1947
25
Maurice Duverger
(Politician)
Birthdate: June 5, 1917
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Angoulême, France
Died: December 16, 2014
Jurist and political scientist Maurice Duverger is best remembered for proposing the Duverger's law, related to the formation of a two-party system. He taught at the Sorbonne and had also been an MP, representing the Italian Communist Party first and then the Democratic Party of the Left.
26
Nathalie Sarraute
(Writer, Lawyer)
Birthdate: July 18, 1900
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Ivanovo, Russia
Died: October 19, 1999
27
Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville
(Prosecutor)
Birthdate: June 10, 1746
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Foreste, France
Died: May 7, 1795
28
Georges Couthon
(Politician)
Birthdate: December 22, 1755
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Orcet, France
Died: July 28, 1794
29
Eva Joly
(Norwegian-born French Magistrate and Politician)
Birthdate: December 5, 1943
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Oslo
Eva Joly is a Norwegian-born French magistrate and politician. An important member of Europe Écologie–The Greens, Joly represented the party as a presidency candidate of France in 2012. A popular politician, Eva Joly has also received prestigious awards such as the Peer Gynt Prize and the Sophie Prize.
30
Chrétien Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes
(Statesman)
Birthdate: December 6, 1721
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: April 22, 1794
Birthdate: February 2, 1807
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: December 31, 1874
Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin was a French politician best remembered as the leader of the working-class men. He was one of the most important politicians whose deeds and speeches led to the French Revolution of 1848, which is considered one of the most prominent events in the history of France. A Paris Metro station and an avenue are named after him.
32
Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles
(Judge)
Birthdate: September 20, 1759
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: April 5, 1794
33
Felix Gouin
(Chair of the Provisional Government of the French Republic)
Birthdate: October 4, 1884
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Peypin, French Third Republic France
Died: October 25, 1977
34
Patrick Devedjian
(Politician)
Birthdate: August 26, 1944
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Fontainebleau, France
Died: March 29, 2020
35
Jeannette Bougrab
(Politician)
Birthdate: August 26, 1973
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Châteauroux, France
36
Jean-Louis Bruguière
(Magistrate, Politician)
Birthdate: May 29, 1943
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Tours, France
37
Adolphe Crémieux
(Politician)
Birthdate: April 30, 1796
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Nîmes, France
Died: February 10, 1880
38
Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud
(Lawyer)
Birthdate: May 31, 1753
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Limoges, France
Died: October 31, 1793
39
Tristan Bernard
(Playwright)
Birthdate: September 7, 1866
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Besançon, France
Died: December 7, 1947
40
René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou
(Lawyer)
Birthdate: February 25, 1714
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Montpellier, France
Died: July 29, 1792
41
Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
(French Lawyer and Former Member of the National Convention)
Birthdate: April 23, 1756
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: La Rochelle, France
Died: June 3, 1819
Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne was a French lawyer and politician of the Revolutionary period. An influential personality, Billaud-Varenne played an important role during the Reign of Terror and is regarded as a key architect of the Reign of Terror. One of the most important members of the Committee of Public Safety, Billaud-Varenne worked with influential figures like Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton.
Birthdate: January 26, 1467
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: August 23, 1540
43
René Journiac
(French jurist and administrator)
Birthdate: May 11, 1921
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Saint Martin-Vésubie, France
Died: February 6, 1980
Birthdate: April 5, 1845
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: September 19, 1935
45
Élie, duc Decazes
(Politician)
Birthdate: September 28, 1780
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Saint-Martin-de-Laye, France
Died: October 24, 1860
Élie, duc Decazes was a French statesman who led the liberal Doctrinaires party during the Bourbon Restoration. A lawyer by profession, he served as a judge of the Seine Tribunal before entering politics. He was a self-proclaimed royalist and remained faithful to the Bourbons throughout the Hundred Days. He became the prime minister of France in 1819.
46
Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas
(Poet)
Birthdate: 1544 AD
Birthplace: France
Died: July 28, 1590
Birthdate: April 18, 1860
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Reims, France
Died: March 14, 1917
48
Théodore Reinach
(Archaeologist, Politician)
Birthdate: July 3, 1860
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Died: October 28, 1928
49
Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard
(Statesman)
Birthdate: June 21, 1763
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Sompuis, France
Died: September 4, 1845
50
Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai
(Politician)
Birthdate: October 30, 1754
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Arleux, France
Died: December 26, 1838