Most Famous French Military figures

France has produced 995 notable military figures throughout history, led by Philippe Pétain. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.

Category All
Citizenship All
PP
Philippe Pétain French Officer 1856 – 1951
# 741
JM
Joachim Murat French Marshal 1767 – 1815
# 2,000
CM
Charles Martel French Militar 688 – 741
# 2,632
SL
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban French Militar 1633 – 1707
# 3,163
JJ
Joseph Joffre French Militar 1852 – 1931
# 4,142
MN
Michel Ney French Officer 1769 – 1815
# 4,839
PD
Patrice de MacMahon (Duke of Magenta) French Officer 1808 – 1893
# 6,162
PL
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque French Militar 1902 – 1947
# 6,584
LD
Louis-Nicolas Davout French Marshal 1770 – 1823
# 7,570
GI
Gaspard II de Coligny French Militar 1519 – 1572
# 10,217
BD
Bertrand du Guesclin French Militar 1320 – 1380
# 11,146
AD
Auguste de Marmont French Marshal 1774 – 1852
# 11,194
JL
Jean Lannes French Officer 1769 – 1809
# 12,001
JG
Joseph Gallieni French Officer 1849 – 1916
# 13,393
JV
Jean Victor Marie Moreau French Officer 1763 – 1813
# 13,505
DS
Denis Sassou Nguesso French Militar Born 1943
# 13,768
JB
Jean Bart French Naval 1651 – 1702
# 15,935
AD
Anne de Montmorency French Soldier 1493 – 1567
# 16,701
JM
Jean Maximilien Lamarque French Commander 1770 – 1832
# 19,915
CB
Chadli Bendjedid French Militar 1929 – 2012
# 20,534