45.7583° N, 4.8412° E
LYON
Most Famous People Born in Lyon, France
- Notable people
- 2,546
- Peak decade
- 1940s
- Median birth year
- 1907
- Most distinctive
- Architect 3.9×
A Roman foundation that gave the empire two emperors and the modern Republic a silk industry. Lyon's distinctive professions are architects, painters, physicians, botanists, and sculptors — the trades of a medical-and-craft city built around its great hospitals and the silk weavers of the Croix-Rousse. Claudius and Caracalla were both born here, Jacquard invented his loom here, and Saint-Exupéry grew up a few streets from the Rhône; the 18th-century bench is heavier than in most French cities outside Paris.
One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Lyon during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 208 notable births.
What Lyon Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Politician is Lyon's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (287).
Lyon over-indexes on architect — 3.9× the global rate.
Lyon under-produces football — only 0.6× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Lyon's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Art & Design
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Science
- Film & TV
- Other
- Filtered to 1820s Clear ×
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
1824 - 1898
Jean-Baptiste Arban
1825 - 1889
Pierre Dupont
1821 - 1870
Jean Chacornac
1823 - 1873
Antoine Chevrier
1826 - 1879
Adolphe Perraud
1828 - 1906
Henri Germain
1824 - 1905
Jean-Baptiste Bertrand
1823 - 1887
Pierre-Charles Comte
1823 - 1895
Louis Lamothe
1822 - 1869
Abraham Hirsch (architect)
1828 - 1913
Clair Tisseur
1827 - 1895
Jean Baptiste Saint-Lager
1825 - 1912
Léon Olphe-Galliard
1825 - 1893
Jean-Claude Colfavru
1820 - 1891
Antoine Gailleton
1829 - 1904
Charles Ozanam
1824 - 1890
Augustin Courtet
1821 - 1891
André Songeon
1826 - 1905
Paul Borel
1828 - 1913
Ondine Valmore
1821 - 1853
Paul Journoud
1821 - 1882
Louis Carrand
1821 - 1899
Antoine Sublet
1821 - 1897
François Vernay
1821 - 1896
Pierre Denis (1828-1907)
1828 - 1907
Joséphine Martin
1822 - 1902
Frédéric Morin
1823 - 1874
Pierre-Désiré Guillemet
1827 - 1878
Camille Rambaud
1822 - 1902
Jean Scohy
1824 - 1897
Guillaume-Alfred Heinrich
1829 - 1887
Jean Étienne Joanny Maisiat
1824 - 1910
Émile Charvériat
1826 - 1904
Gaspard George
1822 - 1908
Rébecca Félix
1829 - 1853
Ferdinand Joseph Hippolyte Barqui
1825 - 1885
Jean-Baptiste Beuchot
1821 - 1884
Arthur Péricaud
1828 - 1899
Alexis Chavanne
1822 - 1911
Marc Burty
1827 - 1903
Louis Million
1829 - 1901
Gabriel Louis de Saint-Victor
1824 - 1893
Philibert Bellemain
1822 - 1886
Philippe Félix Dupuis
1824 - 1888
Joannis Ferrouillat
1820 - 1903
Gaspard Poncet
1821 - 1892
Louis-Étienne Journoud
1828 - 1897
Étienne Pagny
1829 - 1898
André Benoît Perrachon
1828 - 1908
Jean-Marie-Anselme Lablatinière
1829 - 1891
Alexandre Jullien
1823 - 1898
Ernest Bérard
1829 - 1914
Auguste Monvenoux
1827 - 1905
Germain Vallier
1821 - 1883
Benoît-Joseph Chatron
1822 - 1882
Francisque Guillebeau
1821 - 1897
Anatole de Cassagnes de Beaufort de Miramon
1828 - 1912
Claudius Guichard
1826 - 1895
Lucile Henriette Mondutaigny
1826 - 1901
Hippolyte Franc
1825 - 1898
Joanny Farfouillon
1823 - 1876
Martial Chazotte
1823 - 1885
Claude Victor Louis Stanislas Genton
1827 - 1890
Anne Rosine Noilly-Prat
1825 - 1902
François Grivet
1825 - 1886
Pierre Martin (architecte)
1824 - 1871
Joannès Terme
1823 - 1888
Benoît Charvet
1828 - 1897
Marius Duc
1824 - 1895
Xavier Bouquet
1822 - 1903
François Gay (maître verrier)
1827 - 1910
Caroline Lioger
1825 - 1883