List of people from Lyon

This is a list of notable people associated with the French city of Lyon, Rhône.



Religious figures

 * Saint Blandine (162–177 AD) – Christian martyr
 * Irenaeus (2nd century AD–202) – Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul and early Christian martyr
 * Sidonius Apollinaris (430–489) – poet, diplomat, bishop
 * Pierre Coton (1564–1626) – Jesuit confessor to kings Henry IV and Louis XIII
 * Alexandre Lanfant (1726–1792) – French Jesuit
 * Pierre-Simon Ballanche (1776–1847) – Christian philosopher
 * André Coindre (1787–1826) – founder of the order of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart
 * Mathias Loras (1792–1858) – first bishop of American colonial Dubuque, Iowa
 * Jean-Baptiste Pompallier (1801–1871) – bishop
 * Allan Kardec (1804–1869) – systematizer of Spiritism
 * Abbé Pierre (1912–2007) – founder of the Emmaus Mouvement
 * Shlomo Aviner (born 1943) – religious Zionist rabbi

Financial figures



 * Thomas I de Gadagne (1454-1533) – banker
 * Abbé Terray (1715–1778) – controller general of finance under Louis XVI
 * Jean-Claude Trichet (born 1942) – president of Banque de France and European Central Bank
 * Jérôme Kerviel (born 1977) – trader

Political figures

 * Claudius (10 BC–54 AD) – Roman emperor
 * Caracalla (186–217) – Roman emperor
 * Jules Favre (1809–1880) – Republican statesman
 * Édouard Herriot (1872–1957) – French Prime Minister
 * Raymond Barre (1924-2007) – French politician
 * Dominique Perben (born 1945) – politician
 * Gérard Collomb (born 1947) – politician and former mayor of Lyon
 * Azouz Begag (born 1957) – writer and politician

Military and French Resistance figures

 * Claude Martin (1735–1800) – soldier, colonial official, and posthumous founder of La Martiniere College
 * Louis Gabriel Suchet (1770–1826) – marshal of France
 * Fleury Marius (1896–1972) – aviator
 * Jean Moulin (1899–1943) – French Resistance leader
 * Madeleine Lavigne (1912–1945) – French resistance and agent for the Special Operations Executive

Surgeons, scientists, inventors



 * André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836) – physicist
 * Pierre Bouchet (1752–1794) – head surgeon at Hôtel-Dieu
 * Joseph Gensoul (1797–1858) – surgeon
 * Théodore Herpin (1799–1865) – physician known for his work involving epilepsy
 * Stephane Javelle (1864–1917) – astronomer
 * Edmond Locard (1877–1966) – pioneer in forensic science
 * Gerard Bérchet (1902-1990) – inventor of nylon and neoprene
 * Alain Mérieux (born 1938) – billionaire founder of Lyon's BSL-4 Laboratory

Architects and urban planners



 * Hector Guimard (1867–1942) – Art Nouveau architect
 * Tony Garnier (1869–1948) – architect and urban planner

Authors and journalists



 * François Rabelais (1494–1553) – writer
 * Maurice Scève (c. 1500–c. 1564) – poet
 * Jeanne de La Saulcée (died 1559), publisher, printer, bookseller
 * Louise Labé (c. 1520–1566) – poet
 * André Morellet (1727–1819) – economist and writer
 * Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) – economist and businessman
 * Juliette Récamier (1777–1849) – salonnière, writer
 * Alphonse Balleydier (1810–1859) – historiographer
 * Joanny Augier (1813–1855) – playwright and journalist
 * Alexandre Lacassagne (1843–1924) – criminologist
 * Louis Maynard (1871–1940) – writer and local historian
 * Louis Jalabert (1877–1943) – Jesuit archaeologist and epigrapher
 * Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) – aviation pioneer and writer
 * Jean-Marc Théolleyre (1924–2011) – journalist
 * Marie de Hennezel (born 1946) – psychologist, psychotherapist and writer
 * Pierre Autin-Grenier (1947–2014) – writer
 * Yves Bonnardel (born 1967) – activist, philosopher, writer and editor
 * Daphné Collignon (born 1977) – comic book author

Artists and chefs



 * Jean-Baptiste Bertrand (1823–1887) – painter
 * Paul Bocuse (1926–2018) – chef
 * Jean-François Bony (1754–1825) – artist
 * Marie-Anne Leroudier (1838–1908) – embroiderer
 * Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898) – painter
 * André César Vermare (1869–1949) – sculptor

Cinema, theatre, television

 * Laurent Mourguet (1769–1884) – puppeteer, creator of Guignol
 * Cristine Roux (1820–1863) – courtesan, artist's model and actress


 * Auguste and Louis Lumière (1862–1954; 1864–1948) – inventors of the cinematograph


 * Bernard Pivot (born 1935) – journalist, television personality
 * Bertrand Tavernier (1941–2021) – film director
 * Clovis Cornillac (born 1967) – actor
 * Éric Guirado (born 1968) – film director and writer
 * Florence Foresti (born 1973) – humorist
 * Jean-Baptiste Maunier (born 1990) – actor
 * Sylvie Testud (born 1971) – actress
 * Alexandre Astier (born 1974) – actor, scriptwriter, film director, editor, composer, comedian, musician and humorist



Musicians



 * Marc Burty (1827–1903) – music teacher, composer
 * Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937) – organist, composer and conductor
 * Louise Janssen (1863–1938) – opera singer
 * Marie Charbonnel (1880–1969) – opera singer
 * Adrien Rougier (1892–1984) – organist, composer and conductor
 * Maurice Jarre (1924–2009) – composer
 * Pierre Monichon (1925–2006) – inventor of the Harmoneon and professor of historical musicology
 * Marie-France Gaite (1941–1968) – singer
 * Jean-Michel Jarre (born 1948) – jazz violinist
 * Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 1957) – pianist
 * André Manoukian (born 1957) – musician
 * Jean-Yves Thibaudet (born 1961) – pianist
 * Liane Foly (born 1962) – singer, humorist and actress
 * Natalie Dessay (born 1965) – opera singer
 * David Charvet (born 1972) – actor and singer
 * Frank Rivoire (born 1984) – electronic musician
 * Mike Lévy (born 1985) – electronic musician

Sports figures

 * Eric Abidal (born 1979) – football player
 * Houssem Aouar (born 1998) – football player
 * Frederique Bangué (born 1976) – athlete
 * Karim Benzema (born 1987) – football player
 * Youri Djorkaeff (born 1968) – football player
 * Raymond Domenech (born 1952) – football trainer and manager
 * Hubert Dupont (born 1980) – professional cyclist
 * Ludovic Giuly (born 1976) – football player
 * Maurice Herzog (1919–2012) – mountaineer
 * Anthoine Hubert (1996–2019) – racing driver
 * Alexandre Lacazette (born 1991) – football player
 * Bernard Lacombe (born 1952) – football player
 * Amine Noua (born 1997) – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * Émile Ntamack (born 1970) – rugby union player
 * Olivier Panis (born 1966) – Formula One racing driver
 * Gwendal Peizerat (born 1972) – ice dancer
 * Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (born 1992) – football player
 * Samuel Umtiti (born 1993) – football player