Most Famous French Academics

France has produced 819 notable academics throughout history, led by René Descartes. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.

Top Ranked

  1. René Descartes — French Philosopher (1596–1650) , ranked #67
  2. Michel Foucault — French Philosopher (1926–1984) , ranked #233
  3. John Calvin — French Theologian (1509–1564) , ranked #342
  4. Montesquieu — French Philosopher (1689–1755) , ranked #411
  5. Auguste Comte — French Philosopher (1798–1857) , ranked #621
  6. Jacques Derrida — French Philosopher (1930–2004) , ranked #806
  7. Pierre Bourdieu — French Philosopher (1930–2002) , ranked #837
  8. Claude Lévi-Strauss — French Philosopher (1908–2009) , ranked #952
  9. Jean-Paul Marat — French Theorist (1743–1793) , ranked #1329
  10. Roland Barthes — French Philosopher (1915–1980) , ranked #1445
  11. Pierre de Coubertin — French Historian (1863–1937) , ranked #1597
  12. Peter Abelard — French Theologian (1079–1142) , ranked #1679
  13. Jean-François Champollion — French Egyptologist (1790–1832) , ranked #2038
  14. Louis Althusser — French Philosopher (1918–1990) , ranked #2053
  15. Jean Baudrillard — French Philosopher (1929–2007) , ranked #2098
  16. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin — French Theologian (1881–1955) , ranked #2376
  17. Georges Bataille — French Intellectual (1897–1962) , ranked #2527
  18. Jean Bodin — French Philosopher (1530–1596) , ranked #2948
  19. Marquis de Condorcet — French Philosopher (1743–1794) , ranked #2997
  20. Maurice Merleau-Ponty — French Philosopher (1908–1961) , ranked #3160