The Most Famous

GEOGRAPHERS from France

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This page contains a list of the greatest French Geographers. The pantheon dataset contains 86 Geographers, 5 of which were born in France. This makes France the birth place of the 5th most number of Geographers behind United States, and Spain.

Top 8

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

Photo of Paul Vidal de La Blache

1. Paul Vidal de La Blache (1845 - 1918)

With an HPI of 63.24, Paul Vidal de La Blache is the most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages on wikipedia.

Paul Vidal de La Blache (French pronunciation: [pɔl vidal də la blaʃ], Pézenas, Hérault, 22 January 1845 – Tamaris-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 5 April 1918) was a French geographer. He is considered to be the founder of modern French geography and also the founder of the French School of Geopolitics. He conceived the idea of genre de vie, which is the belief that the lifestyle of a particular region reflects the economic, social, ideological and psychological identities imprinted on the landscape.

Photo of Élisée Reclus

2. Élisée Reclus (1830 - 1905)

With an HPI of 60.95, Élisée Reclus is the 2nd most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Jacques Élisée Reclus (French: [ʁəkly]; 15 March 1830 – 4 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes ("Universal Geography"), over a period of nearly 20 years (1875–1894). In 1892 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Paris Geographical Society for this work, despite having been banished from France because of his political activism.

Photo of Nicolas Sanson

3. Nicolas Sanson (1600 - 1667)

With an HPI of 58.89, Nicolas Sanson is the 3rd most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Nicolas Sanson (20 December 1600 – 7 July 1667) was a French cartographer who served under two kings in matters of geography. He has been called the "father of French cartography."

Photo of Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville

4. Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (1697 - 1782)

With an HPI of 54.97, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville is the 4th most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist buʁgiɲɔ̃ dɑ̃vil]; born in Paris 11 July 1697 – 28 January 1782) was a French geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. D'Anville became cartographer to the king, who purchased his cartographic materials, the largest collection in France. He made more than 200 maps during his lifetime, which are characterized by a careful, accurate work largely based on original research. In particular, D'Anville left unknown areas of continents blank and noted doubtful information as such, contrary to the lavish maps of his predecessors. His maps remained the reference point in cartography throughout the 19th century and were used by numerous explorers and travellers.

Photo of Guillaume Delisle

5. Guillaume Delisle (1675 - 1726)

With an HPI of 51.86, Guillaume Delisle is the 5th most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Guillaume Delisle, also spelled Guillaume de l'Isle, or Guillelmo Delille (French pronunciation: [ɡijom dəlil]; 28 February 1675, Paris – 25 January 1726, Paris) was a French cartographer known for his popular and accurate maps of Europe and the newly explored Americas.

Photo of Emmanuel de Martonne

6. Emmanuel de Martonne (1873 - 1955)

With an HPI of 51.08, Emmanuel de Martonne is the 6th most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Emmanuel de Martonne (French pronunciation: [ɛmanɥɛl də maʁtɔn], 1 April 1873 – 24 July 1955) was a French geographer. He participated in the Paris Peace Conference.

Photo of Nicolas de Fer

7. Nicolas de Fer (1646 - 1720)

With an HPI of 49.84, Nicolas de Fer is the 7th most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Nicolas de Fer (French pronunciation: [nikɔla də fɛʁ], 1646 – 25 October 1720) was a French cartographer and geographer. He also was an engraver and publisher. His works focused more on quantity than quality, there were often geographical errors, and they were more artistic than accurate.

Photo of Guillaume Grandidier

8. Guillaume Grandidier (1873 - 1957)

With an HPI of 44.39, Guillaume Grandidier is the 8th most famous French Geographer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Guillaume Grandidier (1 July 1873 – 13 September 1957) was a French geographer, ethnologist, and zoologist who studied the island of Madagascar. He was the son of the wealthy industrialist Alfred Grandidier also a zoologist and expert on Madagascar. Guillaume Grandidier was Secretary of the Geographical Society of Paris and a prolific author. The Atlas des Colonies Françaises, Protectorats et Territoires sous Mandat de la France, simply known as the Atlas Grandidier, was published under his direction in 1934. Among his other works was the monumental Madagascar L'Histoire politique, physique et naturelle de Madagascar. This work was undertaken in cooperation with his father and others such as Alphonse Milne-Edwards and Leon Vaillant. This work ran to 40 volumes. Liopholidophis grandidieri, a species of snake endemic to Madagascar, was named in his honor by French herpetologist François Mocquard.

People

Pantheon has 8 people classified as French geographers born between 1600 and 1873. Of these 8, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased French geographers include Paul Vidal de La Blache, Élisée Reclus, and Nicolas Sanson. As of April 2024, 3 new French geographers have been added to Pantheon including Emmanuel de Martonne, Nicolas de Fer, and Guillaume Grandidier.

Deceased French Geographers

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Newly Added French Geographers (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Geographers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Geographers since 1700.