Auvergne (province) - Notable Residents

Notable Residents

  • Vercingetorix, King of the Arverni, leader of the Gallic resistance against Julius Caesar.
  • Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, (1757–1834), born in Auvergne, was a national hero in both France and the United States for his roles in the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution.
  • Pierre-Andre Coffinhal, Jacobin leader and vice-president of the Revolutionary Tribunal, was born in Auvergne. A close friend of Robespierre, he was executed following the events of the 9 Thermidor.
  • Jean-Baptiste Carrier was a French Revolutionary born in Yolet of Auvergne. He was famous for his brutality towards his enemies. In 1794, he was guillotined upon the conviction of the National Convention.
  • The Dalfi d'Alvernha or Dauphin d'Auvergne, troubadour and patron of troubadours, Count of Clermont and Montferrand
  • Joseph Canteloube, (1879–1957), French composer.
  • Guy Debord, writer and leader of the Situationist International, acquired a country house in the region in 1975, where he frequently lived until committing suicide there in 1994.
  • Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France, although not born in the Auvergne, was educated in Clermont-Ferrand and represented it in the National Assembly.
  • Pierre Laval, Prime Minister of France and of the Vichy French regime, was born near Clermont-Ferrand, although he made his political career in Paris.
  • Audrey Tautou, internationally successful French actress, was born and raised in Auvergne: her surname is typically Occitan.

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