The Most Famous

COMPANIONS from France

This page contains a list of the greatest French Companions. The pantheon dataset contains 784 Companions, 66 of which were born in France. This makes France the birth place of the 2nd most number of Companions.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary French Companions of all time. This list of famous French Companions is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of French Companions.

1. Madame de Pompadour (1721 - 1764)

With an HPI of 79.22, Madame de Pompadour is the most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 57 different languages on wikipedia.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, French: [pɔ̃paduʁ] ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and remained influential as court favourite until her death. Pompadour took charge of the king's schedule and was a valued aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She secured titles of nobility for herself and her relatives, and built a network of clients and supporters. She was particularly careful not to alienate the popular Queen, Marie Leszczyńska. On 8 February 1756, the Marquise de Pompadour was named as the thirteenth lady-in-waiting to the queen, a position considered the most prestigious at the court, which accorded her with honors. Pompadour was a major patron of architecture and decorative arts, especially porcelain. She was a patron of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire. Hostile critics at the time generally tarred her as a malevolent political influence, but historians are more favorable, emphasizing her successes as a patron of the arts and a champion of French pride. Modern historians suggest that the critics of Pompadour were driven by fears over the overturning of the existing hierarchies that Pompadour's power and influence represented, as a woman who was not born into the aristocracy.

2. Madame du Barry (1743 - 1793)

With an HPI of 77.91, Madame du Barry is the 2nd most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason — particularly being suspected of assisting émigrés to flee from the Revolution. She is also known as "Mademoiselle Vaubernier". In 1768, when the king wished to make Jeanne maîtresse-en-titre, etiquette required her to be the wife of a high courtier, so she was hastily married on 1 September 1768 to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The wedding ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate, created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, the comte's older brother. The certificate made Jeanne appear younger by three years and obscured her poor background. Henceforth, she was recognized as the king's official paramour. Her arrival at the French royal court scandalized some, as she had been a courtesan and came from humble beginnings. She was shunned by many, including Marie Antoinette, whose contempt for Jeanne caused alarm and dissension at court. On New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette deigned to speak to Jeanne; her remark, "There are many people at Versailles today", was enough to take the edge off the dispute, though many still disapproved of Jeanne. Decades later, during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned over accusations of treason by her servant Zamor. She was executed by guillotine on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine cemetery. The fabulous gems which she had smuggled to London were sold at auction in 1795.

3. Joseph Bonaparte (1768 - 1844)

With an HPI of 75.36, Joseph Bonaparte is the 3rd most famous French Companion. His biography has been translated into 65 different languages.

Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Giuseppe di Buonaparte, Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe di ˌbwɔnaˈparte]; Corsican: Ghjuseppe Napulione Bonaparte; Spanish: José Napoleón Bonaparte; 7 January 1768 – 28 July 1844) was a French statesman, lawyer, diplomat and older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. During the Napoleonic Wars, the latter made him King of Naples (1806–1808), and then King of Spain (1808–1813). After the fall of Napoleon, Joseph styled himself Comte de Survilliers and emigrated to the United States, where he settled near Bordentown, New Jersey, on an estate overlooking the Delaware River not far from Philadelphia.

4. Hortense de Beauharnais (1783 - 1837)

With an HPI of 73.06, Hortense de Beauharnais is the 4th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (French pronunciation: [ɔʁtɑ̃s øʒeni sesil bɔnapaʁt]; née de Beauharnais, pronounced [də boaʁnɛ]; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen of Holland as the wife of King Louis Bonaparte. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Hortense later married Napoléon I's brother, Louis, making her Napoleon's sister-in-law. She became queen consort of Holland when Louis was made King of Holland in 1806. She and Louis had three sons: Napoléon-Charles Bonaparte; Napoleon III, Emperor of the French; and Louis II of Holland. She also had an illegitimate son, Charles, Duke of Morny, with her lover, the Comte de Flahaut.

5. Désirée Clary (1777 - 1860)

With an HPI of 71.67, Désirée Clary is the 5th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary (Swedish: Eugenia Bernhardina Desideria; 8 November 1777 – 17 December 1860) was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 5 February 1818 to 8 March 1844 as the wife of King Charles XIV John. Charles John was a French general and founder of the House of Bernadotte. Désirée Clary, the mother of Oscar I, was the one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte. Her name was officially changed in Sweden to Desideria although she did not use that name.

6. Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon (1635 - 1719)

With an HPI of 71.26, Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon is the 6th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon (French: [madam də mɛ̃t(ə)nɔ̃] ), was a French noblewoman and the second wife of Louis XIV of France from 1683 until his death in 1715. Although she was never considered queen of France, as the marriage was carried out in secret, Madame de Maintenon had considerable political influence as one of the King's closest advisers and the governess of the royal children. Born into an impoverished Huguenot noble family, Françoise married the poet Paul Scarron in 1652, which allowed her access to the Parisian high society. She was widowed in 1660, but later saw her fortunes improve through her friendship with Louis XIV's mistress, Madame de Montespan, who tasked her with the upbringing of the king's extramarital children. She was made royal governess when the children were legitimised, and in 1675 Louis XIV granted her the title Marquise de Maintenon. By the late 1670s, she had essentially supplanted Montespan as the king's maîtresse-en-titre. After the death of Queen Maria Theresa in 1683, Madame de Maintenon married Louis in a private ceremony. She came to be regarded as the second most powerful person in France, and her piety had a strong influence on her husband, who became firmer in his Catholic faith and had no more open mistresses. In 1686, she founded the Maison royale de Saint-Louis, a school for girls from impoverished noble families, which had a significant influence on female education under the Ancien Régime. After Louis XIV's death in 1715, Madame de Maintenon retired to Saint-Cyr, where she died four years later at the age of 83.

7. Elisabeth of Valois (1545 - 1568)

With an HPI of 70.48, Elisabeth of Valois is the 7th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Elisabeth of France, or Elisabeth of Valois (Spanish: Isabel de Valois; French: Élisabeth de Valois) (2 April 1546 – 3 October 1568), was Queen of Spain as the third wife of Philip II of Spain. She was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.

8. Brigitte Macron (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 70.06, Brigitte Macron is the 8th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron (French: [bʁiʒit maʁi klod makʁɔ̃]; née Trogneux [tʁɔɲø], previously Auzière [ozjɛːʁ]; born 13 April 1953) is a French former teacher known for being the wife of Emmanuel Macron, the current president of France and co-prince of Andorra.

9. Isabella of France (1295 - 1358)

With an HPI of 68.76, Isabella of France is the 9th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Isabella of France (c. 1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (French: Louve de France), was Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II, and de facto regent of England from 1327 until 1330. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of King Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. Isabella was notable in her lifetime for her diplomatic skills, intelligence, and beauty. She overthrew her husband, becoming a "femme fatale" figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel and manipulative figure. Isabella arrived in England at age 12 during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite, Piers Gaveston, but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward turned to a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger, and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser, and by 1325, her marriage to Edward was at a breaking point. Travelling to France on a diplomatic mission, Isabella may have begun an affair with Roger Mortimer, and the two may possibly have agreed at this point to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. The Queen returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326, moving rapidly across England. The King's forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her young son, Edward III. Some believe that Isabella then arranged the murder of Edward II. Isabella and Mortimer's regime began to crumble, partly because of her lavish spending, but also because the Queen successfully, but unpopularly, resolved long-running problems such as the war with Scotland. In 1330, aged 18, Isabella's son, Edward III forcibly asserted his authority. Mortimer was executed, Isabella's regency was ended and she was imprisoned, but soon released. She lived out her remaining years as a wealthy courtier and grew close again to her family especially her daughter Joan, Queen of Scots and her grandson Edward, Prince of Wales.

10. Julie Clary (1771 - 1845)

With an HPI of 66.44, Julie Clary is the 10th most famous French Companion. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Marie Julie Clary (26 December 1771 – 7 April 1845), was Queen of Naples, then of Spain and the Indies, as the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, who was King of Naples from January 1806 to June 1808, and later King of Spain and the Spanish West Indies from 25 June 1808 to June 1813.

People

Pantheon has 66 people classified as French companions born between 545 and 1976. Of these 66, 4 (6.06%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living French companions include Brigitte Macron, Vanessa Paradis, and Bernadette Chirac. The most famous deceased French companions include Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, and Joseph Bonaparte. As of April 2024, 2 new French companions have been added to Pantheon including Eléonore Denuelle de La Plaigne, and Rosa Vercellana.