Curated playlist
French Roman Catholics
- Paul CézannePaul Cézanne was rejected by the Salon de Paris every year from 1864 to 1869.
- NapoleonNapoleon crowned himself emperor with a replica of Charlemagne's crown. The pope had just anointed him.
- Claude of FranceIn 1501, Claude of France was promised in marriage to the future emperor Charles V.
- Charles BaudelaireCharles Baudelaire never reached India, yet he told stories of riding elephants there.
- MontesquieuMontesquieu published The Spirit of Law anonymously in 1748, and the Church banned it in 1751.
- Jean RacineJean Racine secretly sent his hit play to a rival theater company. Molière could not forgive the betrayal.
- Louis XIVLouis XIV once played dead asleep while a mob filed past his bed. The twelve-year-old king never forgave Paris.
- Napoleon IIINapoleon III escaped a life sentence by walking out of prison dressed as a laborer.
- Louis XVIIILouis XVIII spent twenty-three years as a king without a kingdom. He took the French throne in 1814.
- Francis I of FranceFrancis I became king of France because three men ahead of him died without sons. He was crowned in 1515 at age twenty.
- Francis II of FranceAt his coronation, Francis II's crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it above his head.
- Philip II of FranceKing Philip II of France won a battle in 1214 that left King John of England so weak he signed Magna Carta.
- Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle tried five times to escape German prison camps in the First World War. He even posed as a nurse.
- Jacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach died months before his last opera opened. He told his dog he would give everything to be there.
- Henry II of FranceHenry II of France died from a splinter of wood. A shattered lance drove a fragment into his eye at a 1559 tournament.
- Tony ParkerTony Parker was nearly sent home from a Spurs camp after 10 minutes. A highlight tape won him a second chance.
- Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette stepped on her executioner's shoe and apologized. Minutes later she was beheaded.
- Louis BonaparteNapoleon made his brother Louis king of Holland, and Louis refused to send troops for the Russia invasion.
- Catherine de' MediciCatherine de' Medici lost both parents within a month of her birth. She later outlived three French kings, all her sons.
- Marguerite de NavarreA monk proposed sewing Marguerite de Navarre into a sack and throwing her into the Seine.
- Louis PasteurIn 1885, Louis Pasteur treated a boy mauled by a rabid dog despite holding no medical license.
- Jean CocteauJean Cocteau recorded his 1929 recovery from opium in a diary of drawings and withdrawal notes.
- Joachim MuratFacing a firing squad in 1815, Joachim Murat told his soldiers to aim at his heart. He had asked for a scented bath.
- Joseph BonaparteJoseph Bonaparte hid on a ship under a false name while British officers searched it three times.
- Joséphine de BeauharnaisNapoleon's last words included Joséphine, his ex-wife of eleven years. He had annulled their marriage and remarried.
- Jules RimetThe Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1966 and recovered by a dog named Pickles. It was stolen again in 1983.
- Antoine LavoisierAntoine Lavoisier, who named oxygen, was guillotined in Paris in 1794. He was also a tax collector.
- Robert BressonRobert Bresson made only thirteen feature films, yet seven made a 2012 Sight and Sound list. No other director had more.
- Napoleon IINapoleon II was Emperor of the French for only two days. He was three years old and never ruled.
- Louis AlthusserLouis Althusser used a police officer's shout on the street to explain how ideology shapes every person.
- Carlo BuonaparteCarlo Buonaparte died broke in 1785, twenty years before his son became Emperor of the French.
- Louis Philippe IBefore he became king of France, Louis Philippe I lived above a Boston oyster house.
- Alexis de TocquevilleAlexis de Tocqueville was sent to America to study prisons. He went far beyond that and wrote a book on democracy.
- Éric RohmerÉric Rohmer wore a false moustache to the New York premiere of one of his films.
- Désirée ClaryDésirée Clary was once engaged to Napoleon and later became Queen of Sweden.
- Georges Ernest BoulangerGeneral Boulanger spent the night of his greatest triumph searching for his mistress.
- Jean-Jacques-Régis de CambacérèsCambacérès voted to convict Louis XVI but wanted the execution delayed. That careful vote later helped save him.
- Gustave DoréBritish critics disliked Gustave Doré's book of London, saying he drew its poverty. Van Gogh painted one scene.
- Lucien BonaparteLucien Bonaparte helped his brother Napoleon seize power, then refused to live under him.
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-PérigordNapoleon called his own diplomat "shit in a silk stocking." Talleyrand had secretly worked against him.
- Arsène WengerArsène Wenger led Arsenal through a whole league season without a defeat in 2003-04.
- Brigitte BardotBrigitte Bardot, known to the world by her initials B.B., was once praised by French president Charles de Gaulle as “the French export as important as Renault cars.” That is a striking thing to say about an actress. It is stranger still…