Famous French Non-Fiction Writers

French economist and professor Thomas Piketty is best known for his book Capital in the Twenty-first Century, which became a New York Times bestseller. He has taught at prestigious institutes such as LSE and MIT. He proposed taxing the rich to prevent high incomes and not merely to increase government revenue.

Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French intellectual best known as one of the leaders of the New Philosophers movement in 1976. Over the years, Lévy's political activism, publications, and opinions have been the subject of controversies. Bernard-Henri Lévy's works have also been translated into numerous languages including English.

Alexander Berkman was a Russian-American anarchist and author. He was famous for both his political activism and his writing and was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century. He served as the editor of fellow anarchist Emma Goldman's anarchist journal, Mother Earth. He suffered from ill-health in his later years and died by suicide. 

Best known for developing the Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation, physicist Paul Langevin was also a staunch Communist. Having worked on his doctoral thesis under Pierre Curie, he had formed a connection with Curie’s wife, Marie Curie, which developed into a full-blown love affair after Pierre’s death.

Ernest Renan was a French Semitic and Orientalist scholar. A multi-talented personality, Renan was also an expert of Semitic civilizations and languages, philologist, philosopher, historian of religion, critic, and biblical scholar. Ernest Renan is credited with writing pioneering and influential works on the origins of Christianity. Ernest Renan is also credited with writing the extremely popular book, Life of Jesus.

One of the greatest authors and journalists born in Lebanon, Amin Maalouf initially reported major political events around the world. He is known for his internationally bestselling French books, such as Samarkand and Balthasar's Odyssey. His novels usually have a historical setting, with war and migration as prominent themes.

French classical author Francois de La Rochefoucauld is best known for his use of the maxime, a French epigram. He had initially been part of the army that fought against the Spanish. He later grew up to be the quintessential 17th-century nobleman. His Mémoires and Maximes are his most-talked-about works.

Alexandra David-Néel was a Belgian–French explorer, anarchist, spiritualist, Buddhist, writer, and opera singer. She is best remembered for traveling to important spiritual centers, including Lhasa, Tibet in 1924, when foreigners were forbidden from entering Lhasa. Alexandra David-Néel wrote more than 30 books and her teachings influenced people like Allen Ginsberg, Benjamin Crème, Jack Kerouac, Ram Dass, and Alan Watts.   

Édouard Louis is a French writer whose literary work is often inspired by the hardships that he faced during his childhood. His autobiographical novel En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, which became the subject of extensive media attention, was praised for its compelling story. The novel earned him the 2014 Pierre Guénin Prize.

François Fénelon was a French writer, poet, theologian, and Catholic archbishop. He is best remembered for his book The Adventures of Telemachus, which was published in 1699. François Fénelon also served as a tutor of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, guiding the character formation of Louis, Grand Dauphin's eldest son.

Fulcanelli was a French esoteric author and alchemist whose life, which remains shrouded in mystery, was popularized by the 1960 book The Morning of the Magicians. It is generally believed that Fulcanelli succeeded in turning lead into gold, a knowledge which was passed down to his only pupil Eugène Canseliet. Fulcanelli also wrote and published two books in the 1920s.

Emmanuel Carrère is a French author, film director, and screenwriter. Regarded as one of the most gifted French writers of his generation, Carrère has been honored with several awards like the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature. Apart from contributing to the film industry as a director and screenwriter, Carrère has also written books that have been adapted into films.

Known for his work on French identity and memory, French historian Pierre Nora began his career in Algeria, publishing his first book, The French of Algeria, based on his experience there. Later, he became the director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences socials. Concurrently, he had a noteworthy career in publishing and also authored numerous books

French mathematician Louis Bachelier was said to be the first to chart a mathematical model for what is now called the Brownian motion. After losing his wine merchant father early in life, he took over the reins of his family business, but he gradually became a pioneer in mathematical finance.

Apart from being an essayist and a filmmaker, Alain Soral is also a far-right extremist, who has been in trouble for his antisemitic tendencies. Once imprisoned for racism and Holocaust denial, he also established his own political organization, Égalité & Réconciliation, with the help of far-right students’ unions.

Best known for his French TV show Les Enfants du rock, Pierre Lescure had also served the Cannes Film Festival as its president. Born into a family of publishing pioneers, he had naturally grown up to be a journalist. He has also been the president of the premium French channel Canal +.

French Roman Catholic priest Guy Gilbert was trained in Algeria and later began his spiritual career working with juvenile delinquents in France. He has mentored Belgian prince Laurent and has also worked for Radio Notre-Dame and La Croix. The Légion d’Honneur winner has also penned several books.

Renowned French author Dominique Lapierre is best known for his bestselling work City of Joy, which depicted life in the slums of Calcutta. His other bestseller Is Paris Burning?, like City of Joy, was also a collaborative effort with Larry Collins. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India.

Andrea King was an American actress best remembered for her work in theatre, TV, and films. Renowned for her good looks, King was named the most photogenic actress by Warner Bros. in 1945. In 1960, Andrea King was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the American TV industry.

Pierre Hadot was a French historian of philosophy and philosopher who specialized in ancient philosophy. Hadot is credited with introducing Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's thoughts to France. He also published commentaries on and translations of Porphyry of Tyre, Plotinus, St. Ambrose, and Marcus Aurelius.

Rene Belbenoit was a French prisoner and writer best remembered for his memoir Dry Guillotine which was published in 1938 in the USA. Belbenoit was imprisoned in the penal colony of Cayenne in France before his escape to the USA where he published a couple of books and worked as a technical advisor for the 1944 movie Passage to Marseille.

Anne Pingeot is a French art historian who specializes in 19th-century French sculpture. Pingeot, who is credited with writing several catalogs and books on French sculpture, served as the curator of the department of sculpture in popular museums like the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre. Anne Pingeot was also the mistress of former President of France, François Mitterrand.

Jacqueline Piatigorsky was a French-American sculptor, chess player, philanthropist, author, and arts patron. As a chess player, Piatigorsky represented the USA in the first Women's Chess Olympiad, in 1957, where she won a bronze medal. An important patron of the arts, Jacqueline Piatigorsky helped raise money for the New England Conservatory of Music to create an award for deserving artists. 

French author Charles Nodier inspired the Romantic writers of his time with his focus on gothic themes. As the director of the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, he led a group of young writers such as Victor Hugo and Alfred de Musset. His works include The Vampire Lord Ruthwen and The Book Collector.

Known for his masterpieces such as Le Chevalier des Touches and Les Diaboliques, French author Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly was also famous for his outrageous dress sense in spite of his poverty. He specialized in writing dark mystery tales. He had also been a critic at Le Constitutionnel.

Geoffrey of Villehardouin was a knight and historian. He participated in and chronicled the Fourth Crusade and is considered one of the most important historians of his era. He wrote the eyewitness account De la Conquête de Constantinople (On the Conquest of Constantinople) about the battle for Constantinople that took place in 1204. He died around 1218.  

Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange was a French historian, linguist, and philologist. He received training to be a lawyer and was admitted to the Paris bar in 1631. Following a successful legal career, he assumed the office of treasurer of France. He knew many languages and was also a distinguished historian of the Middle Ages and Byzantium.