Events from the year 1931 in France.

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Gaston Doumergue Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue (; 1 August 1863 in Aigues-Vives, Gard18 June 1937 in Aigues-Vives) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1924 to 1931. Tasked with important ministerial portfolios, he was first appo ...

(until 13 June),

Paul Doumer Joseph Athanase Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer (; 22 March 18577 May 1932), was a French politician who served as the President of France from June 1931 until his assassination in May 1932. He is described as "the Father of French Indochin ...

(starting 13 June) *

President of the Council of Ministers The president of the Council of Ministers (sometimes titled chairman of the Council of Ministers) is the most senior member of the cabinet in the executive branch of government in some countries. Some presidents of the Council of Ministers are ...

: Theodore Steeg (until 27 January),

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...

(starting 27 January)

Events

*27 January –

forms a government in France. *6 May –

Paris Colonial Exposition The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...

opens. *13 May –

elected president of France. *14 June – Overloaded pleasure craft ''Saint-Philibert'', carrying trippers home to Nantes from Île de Noirmoutier, sinks at the mouth of the river

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

and over 450 drown. *8 November- French police launch a large scale raid against

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

n bandits.

Births

January to June

*7 February –

Serge Danot Serge Danot (7 February 1931 – 23 December 1990) was a French animator and former advertising executive. He is best known for creating the animated series, '' Le Manège enchanté'' in 1964, which became known in its 1965 English-language ...

, animator (died 1991) *26 February – Jacques Rouxel,

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

(died 2004) *6 March –

Nicolas Barone Nicolas Barone (6 March 1931 in Paris, France – 31 May 2003 in Mougins, France) was a former French professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1955 to 1961 where he won 7 races. He wore the yellow jersey for one day in the 1 ...

, cyclist (died 2003) *24 May –

Michael Lonsdale Michael Edward Lonsdale Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes as Michel Lonsdale, was a French-British actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is often ...

, actor *3 June –

Jean Bouise Jean Bouise (3 June 1929 – 6 July 1989) was a French actor. He was born in Le Havre. In the 1950s he helped to found Théâtre de la Cité, and was a player in the company. He entered films in the 1960s, and played a supporting roles in ...

, actor (died 1989) *5 June –

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, screenwriter and lyricist. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrated ...

, film director (died 1990) *30 June – Joseph Thomin, racing cyclist (died 2018)

July to December

*1 July –

Leslie Caron Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French and American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. Caron b ...

, actress *3 July – Claude-Henri Chouard, surgeon *4 July –

Sébastien Japrisot Sébastien Japrisot (; 4 July 1931 – 4 March 2003) was a French author, screenwriter and film director. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Renowned for subverting the rules of the crime genre, Japrisot broke do ...

, author, screenwriter and film director (died 2003) *6 July – Louis Mexandeau, politician *24 July –

Éric Tabarly Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly (24 July 1931 – 13 June 1998) was a French naval officer and yachtsman. He developed a passion for offshore racing very early on and won several ocean races such as the Ostar in 1964 and 1976, ending English domination ...

, sailor (died 1998) *23 August –

Coccinelle Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy (23 August 1931 – 9 October 2006), better known by her stage name Coccinelle (''"ladybird"'' in French), was a French cabaret entertainer, singer, actress, and transgender activist. A transgender woman, she was ...

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

actress and entertainer (died 2006) *13 October –

Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...

, footballer (died 2017) *25 October –

Annie Girardot Annie Suzanne Girardot (25 October 193128 February 2011) was a French actress. She often played strong-willed, independent, hard-working, and often lonely women, imbuing her characters with an earthiness and reality that endeared her to women un ...

, actress (died 2011) *6 November – André Trochut, cyclist (died 1996) *17 November –

Pierre Nora Pierre Charles Nora (; 17 November 1931 – 2 June 2025) was a French historian elected to the Académie Française on 7 June 2001. As editor at Éditions Gallimard, he established the ''Library of Social Sciences'' in 1966 and the ''Library of ...

, historian (died 2025) *12 December – Christian Metz, film theorist (died 1993) *18 December – André S. Labarthe, French actor (died 2018) *28 December –

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situat ...

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

theorist, writer and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

(died 1994)

Deaths

*3 January –

Joseph Joffre Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre , (; 12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 19 ...

, general (born 1852) *7 January - Joseph Bernard, sculptor (born 1866) *1 February – Emmanuel d'Orléans, noble from the

House of Orléans The 4th House of Orléans (), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans () to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the House of France, Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimat ...

(born 1872) *4 February – Dominique-Marie Gauchet, admiral (born 1853) *31 March –

Henri Béraldi Henri Béraldi (6 February 1849, Paris – 31 March 1931, Paris) was a French people, French bibliophile, publisher and author of books on the Pyrenees and on French printmakers of the 19th century. Henri Béraldi was the son of Pierre Louis Bé ...

, bibliophile and publisher (born 1849) *7 May – Anne Boutiaut Poulard, cook (born 1851) *22 June –

Armand Fallières Clément Armand Fallières (; 6 November 1841 – 22 June 1931) was a French statesman who was President of France from 1906 to 1913. Clément Armand Fallières was a symbol of republicanism in the French Third Republic. He was born into ...

, politician,

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

(born 1841) *11 July –

Jean-Louis Forain Jean-Louis Forain (; 23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was m ...

, Impressionist artist (born 1852) *2 November –

Alexandre Darracq Alexandre Darracq (10 November 1855 – 1931) was a French investor, engineer, cycle manufacturer and automobile manufacturer. By 1904, Darracq was producing more than ten percent of all automobiles in France and he sold a substantial part of h ...

, automobile manufacturer (born 1855) *7 November –

Étienne Bazeries Étienne Bazeries (21 August 1846, in Port Vendres – 7 November 1931, in Noyon) was a French military cryptanalyst active between 1890 and the World War I, First World War. He is best known for developing the "Bazeries Cylinder", an improved v ...

, military

cryptanalyst Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic se ...

(born 1846) *2 December –

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

, composer (born 1851) *13 December –

Gustave Le Bon Charles-Marie Gustave Le Bon (7 May 1841 – 13 December 1931) was a leading French polymath whose areas of interest included anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, invention, and physics. He is best known for his 1895 work '' The Crowd: ...

, psychologist (born 1841)

References

Links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1931 in France 1930s in France