Historical figures in Paris
The atlas holds 106 people and 375 moments here, from 800 to 2015. The most recorded lives are Sarah Bernhardt, Frédéric Chopin and Jean-Paul Sartre. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Scientists, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
Sarah Bernhardt
from 1844 to 1923
21 moments here
French stage and early film actress, born Henriette-Rosine Bernard in Paris. Bernhardt became an international theatrical star through performances…
Frédéric Chopin
from 1831 to 1849
11 moments here
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period. Born in Żelazowa Wola, he grew up and trained in Warsaw, travelled through Central…
Jean-Paul Sartre
from 1905 to 1980
11 moments here
French philosopher, writer, and political activist associated with existentialism. His documented movements include education and teaching across…
Victor Hugo
from 1827 to 1885
10 moments here
French Romantic poet, novelist, dramatist, artist, activist, and politician. This chronology traces documented physical presences from his mobile…
Pablo Picasso
from 1900 to 1965
10 moments here
Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and co-founder of Cubism. Born in Málaga, Picasso trained in A Coruña, Barcelona, and Madrid…
Voltaire
from 1694 to 1778
10 moments here
François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, dramatist, and philosopher.…
Marie Curie
from 1891 to 1921
10 moments here
Polish-born, naturalized-French physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity. With Pierre Curie she discovered polonium and radium.…
Molière
from 1622 to 1673
10 moments here
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière, was a French playwright, actor, and theatrical manager.…
Louis Pasteur
from 1838 to 1895
10 moments here
French chemist and microbiologist whose work on molecular asymmetry, fermentation, germ theory, pasteurization, and vaccines transformed modern…
Charles Baudelaire
from 1821 to 1867
10 moments here
French poet, essayist, translator, and art critic, best known for Les Fleurs du mal. Baudelaire lived chiefly in Paris, spent formative school years…
Honoré de Balzac
from 1813 to 1850
10 moments here
French novelist and playwright, born in Tours and dead in Paris. Balzac created La Comédie humaine, an interlinked fictional panorama of…
Montesquieu
from 1709 to 1755
8 moments here
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…
Jean de La Fontaine
from 1635 to 1695
8 moments here
French fabulist, poet, dramatist, and author whose Fables became foundational works of French literature.…
Karl Marx
from 1843 to 1882
7 moments here
German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Born in Trier, Marx studied in Bonn and Berlin, worked in Cologne, and…
René Descartes
from 1616 to 1648
7 moments here
French philosopher, mathematician, and natural philosopher whose methodic doubt, mind-body distinction, analytic techniques, and mechanical account…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from 1742 to 1776
7 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Charles de Gaulle
from 1922 to 1962
6 moments here
French army officer, leader of Free France during the Second World War, head of France's Provisional Government, and president of the French Fifth…
Benjamin Franklin
from 1767 to 1784
6 moments here
American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…
Ernest Hemingway
from 1918 to 1956
6 moments here
American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Hemingway’s documented movements ranged from Illinois and Michigan to Italy in World War I,…
Le Corbusier
from 1908 to 1964
6 moments here
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, painter, writer, and urban planner.…
Blaise Pascal
from 1631 to 1662
6 moments here
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. Pascal spent his life principally between Clermont-Ferrand, Paris,…
Giuseppe Verdi
from 1847 to 1875
6 moments here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Napoleon Bonaparte
from 1799 to 1815
5 moments here
French military commander and statesman who rose during the French Revolution, became First Consul in 1799, and ruled as Emperor of the French in…
Salvador Dalí
from 1926 to 1979
5 moments here
Spanish painter, sculptor, writer, designer, filmmaker, and leading exponent of Surrealism. Born in Figueres, Dalí trained in Madrid, joined the…
Moments
- 800 Passed through Paris on the return journey Charlemagne
- 1245 Study at the University of Paris Thomas Aquinas
- 1252 Return to Paris for theological study Thomas Aquinas
- 1256 First Paris regency in theology Thomas Aquinas
- 1269 Second Paris regency Thomas Aquinas
- 1333 Visit to Paris Petrarch
- 1361 Oration before the French king Petrarch
- 1377 Peace mission to Paris Geoffrey Chaucer
- 1429 Attacks Paris from La Chapelle Joan of Arc
- 1495 Theological study in Paris Desiderius Erasmus
- 1528 Stay in Paris François Rabelais
- 1531 Return to Paris after his father's death John Calvin
- 1533 Return to Paris amid reform controversy John Calvin
- 1536 Paris visit with Antoine Calvin John Calvin
- 1553 Death in Paris François Rabelais
- 1576 Diplomatic journey to Paris Francis Bacon
- 1581 Thirty lectures in Paris Giordano Bruno
- 1585 Return to Paris with Castelnau Giordano Bruno
- 1586 Disputation at the Collège de Cambrai Giordano Bruno
- 1616 Moves to Paris after university René Descartes
- 1622 Baptism at Saint-Eustache Molière
- 1622 Medici-cycle negotiations in Paris Peter Paul Rubens
- 1622 Visits Paris during property settlement René Descartes
- 1625 Settles again in Paris René Descartes
- 1628 Meets Bérulle after returning to Paris René Descartes
- 1629 Tutor in Paris Thomas Hobbes
- 1631 Family relocation to Paris Blaise Pascal
- 1635 Studies at a Paris collège Jean de La Fontaine
- 1638 Visit to Paris John Milton
- 1638 Birth at Saint-Germain-en-Laye Louis XIV
- 1639 Return through Paris John Milton
- 1639 Presentation at a Mersenne meeting Blaise Pascal
- 1640 Exile in Paris Thomas Hobbes
- 1641 Entered the Oratory Jean de La Fontaine
- 1641 Transferred to Saint-Magloire for theology Jean de La Fontaine
- 1644 Opening of the Jeu de Paume des Métayers Molière
- 1644 Visits Paris during a French journey René Descartes
- 1647 Mathematical instructor to the Prince of Wales Thomas Hobbes
- 1647 Return to Paris and meeting with Descartes Blaise Pascal
- 1647 Meets Pascal in Paris René Descartes
- 1648 Barometer experiment at Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie Blaise Pascal
- 1648 Return to Paris during the Fronde Blaise Pascal
- 1648 Arrives in Fronde-era Paris René Descartes
- 1651 Private business in Paris Molière
- 1651 Fronde crisis in Paris Louis XIV
- 1658 Command performance before Louis XIV Molière
- 1661 Opening at the Palais-Royal Molière
- 1662 Death in Paris Blaise Pascal
- 1664 Installed at Luxembourg Palace Jean de La Fontaine
- 1670 Royal entertainment at Saint-Germain-en-Laye Molière