1972 in France

Events from the year 1972 in France.

Incumbents

 * President: Georges Pompidou
 * Prime Minister: Jacques Chaban-Delmas (until 5 July), Pierre Messmer (starting 6 July)

Events

 * January – Launch of the Renault 5, one of the world's first small hatchbacks.
 * 23 April – French European Economic Community enlargement referendum, voters approved the accession of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway to the EEC.
 * 16 June – 108 die as two passenger trains hit debris of a collapsed railway tunnel near Soissons.
 * 1 July – Canadian ketch Vega, flying the Greenpeace III banner, collides with the French naval minesweeper La Paimpolaise while in international waters to protest French nuclear weapon tests in the South Pacific.
 * 5 July – President Pompidou dismisses prime minister Chaban-Delmas following rumours of financial misdoing.
 * October – The Peugeot 104, the smallest four-door car in the world, is launched.
 * 28 October – The first flight of the Airbus A300, the first airliner built by Airbus.
 * 6 November – Activist couple Saïd and Faouzia Bouziri in Goutte d'Or district begin a hunger strike to protest the expulsion order against them, which they received due to their human rights and immigrant rights activism
 * 19 November – Almost 2,000 people demonstrate in support of Saïd and Faouzia Bouziri at the square within Quartier de La Chapelle, forcing the expulsion order to be dropped

Sport

 * 1 July – Tour de France begins.
 * 22 July – Tour de France ends, won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium.

January to March

 * 1 January – Lilian Thuram, international soccer player.
 * 4 January – Sylvain Deplace, soccer player.
 * 9 January – Frédéric Bessy, cyclist.
 * 10 January – Gilles Trehin, artist and author.
 * 17 January – Olivier Sourgens, rugby union player.
 * 18 January – Bruno Alicarte, soccer player.
 * 22 January – Yves Demaria, motocross racer.
 * 23 January - Léa Drucker, French actress
 * 8 February – Mathieu Verschuère, soccer player.
 * 17 February – Philippe Candeloro, figure skater.
 * 22 February – Laurence Leboucher, mountain bike and cyclo-cross racer.
 * 3 March – Jacques Rémy, soccer player.
 * 8 March – Nicolas Fargues, novelist.
 * 12 March – Laurent Dufresne, soccer player.
 * 22 March
 * Jocelyn Gourvennec, soccer player.
 * Christophe Revault, soccer player.
 * 23 March – Judith Godrèche, actress and author.
 * 24 March – Christophe Dugarry, soccer player.
 * 25 March – Sébastien Flute, archer and Olympic gold medallist.
 * 27 March – Agathe de La Fontaine, actress.
 * 29 March – Cédric Lécluse, soccer player.

April to June

 * 2 April – Fabrice Bry, volleyball player.
 * 3 April – Sandrine Testud, tennis player.
 * 21 April – Gwendal Peizerat, ice dancer.
 * 29 April – Anne-Sophie Lapix, journalist and television presenter.
 * April – Olivier Doleuze, jockey.
 * 5 May – Laurent Capet, volleyball player.
 * 6 May – Sébastien Amiez, alpine skier.
 * 15 May – David Charvet, actor.
 * 15 May – Élisa Martin, politician.
 * 20 May – Christophe Dominici, international rugby union player (died 2020).
 * 22 May – Nathalie Teppe, heptathlete.
 * 28 May – Jocelyn Blanchard, soccer player.
 * 8 June – Frédéric Esther, boxer.
 * 17 June – Antoine Albeau, windsurfer.
 * 19 June – Jean Dujardin, comedian.
 * 23 June – Zinedine Zidane, international soccer player.
 * 28 June – Samir Amirèche, soccer player.

July to September

 * 5 July
 * David Benyamine, tennis, billiards and poker player.
 * Gilles Lellouche, actor
 * 6 July
 * Fabrice Colin, author.
 * Laurent Gaudé, writer.
 * 10 July – Stéphane Carnot, soccer player.
 * 14 July – Loïc Le Meur, entrepreneur and blogger.
 * 28 July – Walter Bénéteau, cyclist.
 * 29 July – Amaria Pauline, dancer
 * 5 August – Yann Lachuer, soccer player.
 * 7 August – Ghislain Lemaire, judoka.
 * 13 August – Michael Sinterniklaas, French-born American voice actor
 * 19 August – Fabien Cool, soccer player.
 * 20 August – Olivier Guégan, soccer player.
 * 20 August – Jérôme Legavre, politician.
 * 1 September – Vincent Riou, sailor.
 * 13 September – Olivier Echouafni, soccer player.
 * 19 September – Sébastien Maté, soccer player.
 * 21 September – Olivia Bonamy, actress.

October to December

 * 5 October – Jean-Sebastien Bax, soccer player.
 * 15 October – Mathieu Demy, actor.
 * 19 October – Fabien Leclercq, soccer player.
 * 24 October – Frédéric Déhu, soccer player.
 * 25 October – Esther Duflo, economist.
 * 11 November – Stéphane Cassard, soccer player.
 * 14 November – Delphine Lingemann, politician.
 * 16 November – Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, golfer.
 * 20 November
 * Jérôme Alonzo, soccer player.
 * Corinne Niogret, biathlete and Olympic medallist.
 * 22 November – Olivier Brouzet, rugby union player.
 * 27 November – Stéphane Pocrain, television journalist.
 * 3 December – Laurent Roux, cyclist.
 * 4 December – Franck Tournaire, international rugby union player.
 * 5 December
 * Stéphane Barthe, racing cyclist
 * Antoine Préget, soccer player.
 * 6 December – Cyrille Pouget, soccer player.
 * 13 December – Claude-Arnaud Rivenet, soccer player.
 * 19 December – Cédric Soulette, rugby union player.
 * 22 December – Vanessa Paradis, singer and actress.
 * 24 December – Richard Dutruel, soccer player.
 * 26 December – Jérôme Le Banner, kickboxer and K-1 practitioner.
 * 31 December – Grégory Coupet, international soccer player.

Full date unknown

 * Jules de Balincourt, painter.
 * Fabrice Bellard, computer programmer.
 * Vanessa Duriès, novelist (died 1993).
 * Sylvain Guillot, jockey.

January to March

 * 1 January – Maurice Chevalier, actor and singer (born 1888).
 * 6 January – Xavier Vallat, politician and Commissioner-General for Jewish Questions in Vichy France (born 1891).
 * 19 January – Suzanne Malherbe, illustrator and designer (born 1892).
 * 20 January – Jean Casadesus, classical pianist (born 1927).
 * 29 January – Claire Ferchaud, religious mystic (born 1896)
 * 17 February – Youenn Drezen, Breton nationalist writer and activist (born 1899).
 * 21 February
 * Marie Dubas, music-hall singer and comedian (born 1894).
 * Eugène Tisserant, cardinal (born 1884).
 * 4 March – Maurice Diot, cyclist (born 1922).
 * 17 March – Adolphe Bousquet, rugby union player (born 1899).
 * 28 March
 * Joseph Paul-Boncour, politician (born 1873).
 * Alice Pruvot-Fol, malacologist (born 1873).

April to June

 * 10 April – Henri de la Falaise, translator, film director and film producer (born 1898).
 * 11 April – Maurice Cottenet, soccer player (born 1895).
 * 26 April – Jacques de Bernonville, collaborationist and senior police officer in the Vichy regime (born 1897).
 * 27 April – Lucien Sarti, drug trafficker and killer-for-hire (b. c1931).
 * 5 May – Roger Courtois, international soccer player (born 1912).
 * 7 May
 * Henri Diamant-Berger, screenwriter, film director and producer (born 1895).
 * Robert Lingat, academic scholar (born 1892).
 * 28 May – Violette Leduc, author (born 1907).
 * 5 June – Jean Moreau, politician (born 1888).
 * 17 June – Marcel Deviq, engineer, businessman, and politician (born 1907).
 * 29 June – Boby Lapointe, singer (born 1922).
 * 30 June – Hervé Budes de Guébriant, engineer (born 1880).

July to September

 * 7 July – Marcel-Frédéric Lubin-Lebrère, rugby union player (born 1891).
 * 22 July – Max Aub, author, playwright and literary critic (born 1903).
 * 14 August – Jules Romains, poet and writer (born 1885).
 * 16 August – Pierre Brasseur, actor (born 1905).
 * 21 August
 * Albert Achard, World War I flying ace (born 1894).
 * Yvonne Gall, operatic soprano (born 1885).
 * 24 August – Lucien Rebatet, author, journalist and intellectual (born 1903).
 * 14 September – Jean-Jacques Bernard, playwright (born 1888)
 * 19 September – Robert Casadesus, pianist and composer (born 1899).
 * 21 September – Henry de Montherlant, essayist, novelist and playwright (born 1896).
 * 28 September – Maurice Thiriet, composer (born 1906).

October to December

 * 29 October – Julien Maitron, cyclist (born 1881).
 * 18 November – André Héléna, writer (born 1919).
 * 27 November – Robert Schurrer, athlete and Olympic medallist (born 1890).
 * 13 December – René Mayer, politician and Prime Minister of France (born 1895).
 * 15 December – François Bourbotte, soccer player (born 1913).