The 10 famous French names you must know

by Leigh Fergus

Apart from the obvious politicians: Ségo, Sarko, Bayrou, Chirac, Le Pen, and Arlette Laguiller, here are the French names in the news or in conversations that most citoyens will be familiar with:

1. Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, aka PPDA, is so much more than just a news presenter: He's a successful author with his brother, as well as the heartthrob of many a French woman of a certain age.

2. Zineddine Zidane, or Zizou, hardly needs an introduction-hero of the World Cup in 1998 and voted several times best player of the year. He was a role model for many inner-city youngsters, even after being sent off for head-butting an Italian player in his last match.

4. Actor Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of the gravel-voiced chain-smoking Serge Gainsbourg, is making a name for herself as a singer and a respected young actress with unaffected smart-casual good looks, a million miles from the made-up glamour of time-honored stars like Catherine Deneuve. She has starred in three successful movies in the past 12 months already.

5. Djamel Debbouze, an impudent comedian from the inner city who lost an arm in a train accident, has charmed France with his stand-up routines and his acting. He appears in Amélie, and won an award last year for his role in Les Indigènes, a film about the North African soldiers who were abandoned by France after WWII and have been fighting for a pension ever since.

6. Jeanne Calmant-for many years she was the oldest woman in the world, thriving on a daily glass of port and the odd cigarette, until she died at the venerable age of 122.

7. Laure Manaudou came away with seven medals (including four gold) at the recent European swimming championships, and has captured the French public's attention by moving to Italy to be with her Italian boyfriend, also a champion swimmer.

8. José Bové is the French stance against globalization personified. This is the man who famously helped dismantle a McDonald's fast food outlet in the south of France and who has led the anti-GMC movement. He recently ran in the presidential elections with the slogan "Osez Bové" -dare (to vote for) Bové.

9. Abbé Pierre-one of France's best-loved figures since the post-war period, this diminutive man of the cloth devoted his life to helping the homeless. He campaigned for decent housing for all after a young woman and her child died of cold during the winter of 1954. He set up the Emmaüs association in 1985 to train the homeless and unskilled in repairing and reselling household goods and furniture via a network of thrift shops throughout the country. He died in January this year at the age of 95.

10. Michel Gérard Colucci, otherwise known as Coluche-a well-loved comedian whose popular and bawdy humor often masked biting criticism of modern society. He set up a chain of soup kitchens for the needy, Les Restaus du Coeur, that was supported by the celebrities of the day in 1985-and was killed in a road accident the following year aged 41. His name is a byword for scatological humor from the inner cities.