The Romanians in France are

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

heritage who are born in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and live as immigrants in France or are born in France from a Romanian immigrant family that came to France in the early 20th century. Today, about 120,000 Romanian-born citizens live in France, and there is an unknown number of French citizens with Romanian ancestry.

History

Romanians had registered a presence on France's soil since the first part of the 19th century. The first Romanians that arrived at that time were mainly rich

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementa ...

s who came to study, principally in science and physics domains. Most of them returned to Romania after finishing their studies, although a significant number remained in France. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, some Romanian soldiers were sent to France when the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

joined the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in 1916, to help French troops in the fight against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. An important figure of the Romanian-French

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

arrived in France in the 1950s, after the end of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, in a period when both Romania and France were experiencing a very difficult period in their history, and were still recovering from the disasters caused by the conflict. Most of the Romanian population settled in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

and other big cities in the north of France. Another large wave of Romanian emigrants made their way in France in the 1990s, after the fall of

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

in Romania, caused by the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...

. After that important event, millions of Romanians left their homeland in order to come to the West, to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, etc., where up to this day they still form significant communities. More than half of the present-day number of Romanian-French arrived after 1990.

French language in Romania

English and French are the main foreign languages taught in schools. In 2010, the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

identifies French speakers in the country. According to the 2012

Eurobarometer Eurobarometer is a series of public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission and other EU Institutions since 1973. These surveys address a wide variety of topical issues relating to the European Union throughout i ...

, English is spoken by 59% of Romanians, French is spoken by 25%.

Notable people

Art

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of modernism, ...

(1876–1957), sculptor and painter *

Margaret Cossaceanu Margaret Cossaceanu, born Margareta Cosăceanu, later Margaret Cossaceanu-Lavrillier (4 January 1893– 22 September 1980) was a French sculptor of Romanian origin. Biography Margaret Cossaceanu, was born in Bucharest and was the niece of sci ...

(1893–1980), sculptor * (1925–2006), painter and sculptor *

Horia Damian Horia Damian (Bucharest, 27 Feb 1922 - Paris 14 May 2012) was a Romanian painter and sculptor. Biography Damian enrolled at the School of Architecture in Bucharest in 1941. In that same year he made his debut at the Salonul Official de Pict ...

(1922–2012), painter and sculptor * Natalia Dumitresco (1915–1997), painter * Tania Mouraud (b. 1942), contemporary artist *

Stefan Ramniceanu Stefan Ramniceanu (born Ștefan Râmniceanu, 15 August 1954) is a Romanian painter and visual artist. According to the philosopher and critic Andrei Pleșu, Ramniceanu is "one of those artists who know how to seduce, surprise and irritate; in ot ...

(b. 1954), painter and visual artist

Film and television

Jean Aurel Jean Aurel (6 November 1925 in Rastolita, Romania – 24 August 1996 in Paris) was a Romanian-born French film director and scriptwriter. Notably, he co-wrote ''La Femme d'à côté'' (''The Woman Next Door'') with François Truffaut and Suzann ...

(1925–1996), film director and screenwriter *

Claude Berri Claude Berri (; 1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, writer, producer, actor and distributor. Early life Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris, Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Beila (née Bercu), w ...

(1934–2009), film director, producer and screenwriter (Romanian mother) * Lorànt Deutsch (b. 1975), actor (Romanian mother) *

Julie Dreyfus Julie Dreyfus (born 24 January 1966) is a French actress who is well known in Japan where she made her television debut on a French language lesson program on NHK's educational channel in the late 1980s. She has appeared on the TV show ''Ryō ...

(b. 1966), actress *

Jany Holt Jany Holt (born Ruxandra Ecaterina Vladescu Olt, 13 May 1909 – 26 October 2005) was a Romanian-born actress, who worked principally in the French cinema. Holt married French actor Marcel Dalio in 1936, divorcing in 1939. In 1940, Holt married a ...

(1909–2005), actress *

Eva Ionesco Eva Ionesco (born 18 July 1965) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter. She is the daughter of Romanian-French photographer Irina Ionesco and came to international prominence as a child model after being featured in her mother's wo ...

(b. 1965), actress, film director and screenwriter *

Michèle Laroque Michèle Laroque (; born 15 June 1960) is a French actress, comedian, humorist, producer and screenwriter. Early life Michèle Laroque was born in Nice in the department of Alpes-Maritimes. She is the daughter of Romanian dancer and violinis ...

(b. 1960), actress and screenwriter (Romanian mother) *

Lana Marconi Lana Marconi (born Ecaterina Ileana Marcovici; 8 September 1917 in Bucharest, Romania – 8 December 1990) was a Romanian- French actress, and the fifth and last wife of the famous French actor-director-playwright Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pier ...

(1917–1990), actress *

Alexandre Mihalesco Alexandre Mihalesco (; born Alexandru Mihăilescu, ; 19 October 1883 – 28 December 1974) was a Romanian film actor who largely appeared in French productions.Goble p.2 Selected filmography * ''The Independence of Romania'' (1912) * ''On the W ...

(1883–1974), actor *

Radu Mihăileanu Radu Mihăileanu (born 23 April 1958) is a Romanian-born French film director and screenwriter. He left Romania in 1980 and graduated the IDHEC cinematographic institute in Paris. In addition to his work in the cinema he published a book of poe ...

(b. 1958), film director and screenwriter *

Elvira Popescu Elvira Popescu (; in French, Elvire Popesco; 10 May 1894 – 11 December 1993) was a Romanian-French stage and film actress and theatre director. During the 1930s and 1940s, she starred in a number of French comedy films. Life and career Pop ...

(1894–1993), actress *

Josiane Stoléru Josiane Stoléru is a French film, television and theatre actress. Stoléru was born and raised in Lyon, France. Her cousin was the late French politician Lionel Stoléru. She is married to fellow actor Patrick Chesnais, and their daughter Ém ...

(b. 1949), actress *

Laurent Terzieff Laurent Terzieff (27 June 1935, in Toulouse – 2 July 2010, in Paris) was a French actor. Biography Terzieff was the son of French ceramist Anamaria Vartolomei Anamaria Vartolomei (born 9 April 1999) is a French-Romanian actress. She began her career as a child actress in the film '' My Little Princess'' (2011). She won the Lumières Award for Best Actress and the César Award for Most Promising Actres ...

(b. 1999), actress

Literature

* Linda Baros (b. 1981), poet *

Marthe Bibesco Princess Martha Bibescu (Martha Lucia; ''née'' Lahovary; 28 January 1886 – 28 November 1973) also known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a celebrated Romanian-French writer, socialite, style icon and political hostess. She spent her c ...

(1886–1973), poet *

Emil Cioran Emil Mihai Cioran (, ; 8 April 1911 – 20 June 1995) was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. ...

(1911–1995), essayist *

Petru Dumitriu Petru Dumitriu (; 8 May 1924 – 6 April 2002) was a Romanian-born novelist who wrote both in Romanian and in French. Biography Dumitriu was born in Baziaș, in the Banat region of Romania. His father was a Romanian army officer and his moth ...

(1924–2002), novelist * Constantin Gheorghiu (1916–1992), novelist *

Paul Goma Paul Goma (; October 2, 1935 – March 24, 2020) was a Romanian writer, known for his activities as a dissident and leading opponent of the communist regime before 1989. Forced into exile by the communist authorities, he became a political refu ...

(1935–2020), novelist *

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

(1909–1994), playwright * Salim Jay (b. 1951), novelist (Romanian mother) *

Anna de Noailles Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan) (15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian and Greek descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. Biography Personal life Born Princess ...

(1876–1933), poet *

Dumitru Țepeneag Dumitru Țepeneag (also known under the pen names Ed Pastenague and Dumitru Tsepeneag; b. February 14, 1937) is a contemporary Romanian novelist, essayist, short story writer and translator, who currently resides in France. He was one of the foundi ...

(b. 1937), novelist *

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

(1896–1963), poet, playwright and founder of the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

movement * Elena Văcărescu (1864–1947), poet * Matei Vișniec (b. 1956), novelist

Music

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures ...

(1912–1996), conductor and composer *

Marius Constant Marius Constant (7 February 192515 May 2004) was a Romanian-born French composer and conductor. Although known in the classical world primarily for his ballet scores, his most widely known music was the iconic guitar theme for ''The Twilight Zone ...

(1925–2004), composer and conductor * Vladimir Cosma (b. 1940), composer, conductor and violinist * Francis Dreyfus (1940–2010), record producer *

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

(1881–1955), composer, violinist, pianist, and conductor *

Mareva Galanter Mareva Galanter (born 4 February 1979) is a French singer, actress and former beauty queen. Galanter won the 1998 "Miss World Islands" and then the 1998 "Miss Tahiti" beauty contest that allowed her to compete for the Miss France 1999 crown, whic ...

(b. 1979), singer and former

Miss France Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, i ...

1999 *

Costin Miereanu Costin Miereanu (born 27 February 1943) is a French composer and musicologist of Romanian birth. Biography Miereanu was born in Bucharest and studied at the Music Academy there from 1960 to 1966 with Alfred Mendelsohn, Tiberiu Ola, Ștefan ...

(b. 1943), composer *

Horațiu Rădulescu Horațiu Rădulescu (; 7 January 1942 – 25 September 2008) was a Romanian-French composer, best known for the spectral technique of composition. Life Rădulescu was born in Bucharest, where he studied the violin privately with Nina Alexandres ...

(1942–2008), composer * Lydie Solomon (b. 1982), pianist * Pierre Vassiliu (1937–2014), singer and songwriter

Politics

Lionnel Luca Lionnel Luca (born 19 December 1954 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for Alpes-Maritime's 6th constituency from 1997 to 2007. Since 2014, he is the Mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet. Luca is ...

(b. 1954), member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

Roxana Mărăcineanu Roxana Maracineanu (; born 7 May 1975) is a Romanian-born French politician, former swimming champion and television consultant who served as Minister Delegate in charge of Sports in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex (2020–2022) and ...

(b. 1975), current Minister of Youth and Sports of France * Lionel Stoléru (1937–2016), politician *

Nicolae Titulescu Nicolae Titulescu (; 4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was a Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, finance and foreign minister, and for two terms president of the General Assembly of the League of Nations (1930–32). Early ...

(1882–1941), politician

Sports

* Anne-Marie Bănuță (b. 1991), footballer * Ania Monica Caill (b. 1995), alpine skier *

Alexandra Dascalu Alexandra Alina Dăscalu (born 17 April 1991) is a French female volleyball player who currently plays for Italian club Baronissi, as a right side hitter. She is also a member of the France women's national volleyball team. Her father, Pompiliu, ...

(b. 1991), volleyball player * Ana Filip, (b. 1989), basketball player * (b. 1985), rugby union player (Romanian mother) *

Viorel Moldovan Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian former professional football forward and currently a manager. He was an important player for the Romanian national team in the 1990s. Career Moldovan was born in Bistrița. At club level, ...

(b. 1972), footballer and manager *

Victoria Muntean Victoria Muntean (born 23 January 1997) is a French professional tennis player. Muntean has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 435, attained on 27 June 2016, and a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 408, reached on 24 July 2017. She has won ...

(b. 1997), tennis player * Rodica Nagel (b. 1970), long-distance runner *

Cédric Pioline Cédric Pioline (born 15 June 1969) is a French former professional tennis player who played on the professional tour from 1989 to 2002. He reached the men's singles final at the 1993 US Open and at Wimbledon in 1997. On both occasions, he was ...

(b. 1969), tennis player (Romanian mother) * Rudi Prisăcaru (b. 1970), handballer *

Jean-Charles Skarbowsky Jean-Charles Skarbowsky (born March 10, 1975) is a French former kickboxer and 3-time European Muay Thai champion. Skarbowsky has been called one of the best ''farangs'' who have fought in Thailand. Biography and career His mother emigrated at a ...

(b. 1975), kickboxer (Romanian mother) * (b. 1993), rugby union player * Cynthia Vescan (b. 1992), freestyle wrestler *

Victor Zvunka Victor Zvunka ( ro, Victor Zvuncă; born 15 November 1951 in Le Ban-Saint-Martin) is a French former football defender and football manager most recently in charge of Sporting Club Toulon. Honours As a player Marseille *Coupe de France: 1976 ...

(b. 1951), footballer and manager

Other

* Antoine Bibesco (1878–1951), diplomat *

Henri Coandă Henri Marie Coandă (; 7 June 1886 – 25 November 1972)''Flight'' 1973 was a Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, and builder of an experimental aircraft, the Coandă-1910 described by Coandă in the mid-1950s as the world's first jet, a co ...

(1886–1972), inventor and aerodynamics pioneer * Paul Cornu (1881-1944), engineer designing the world's first successful manned

rotary wing aircraft A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The Internati ...

Mattei Dogan Mattei Dogan (16 October 1920 – 10 October 2010) was a Romanian-born French political sociologist and senior research officer emeritus of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and professor emeritus of political science of t ...

(1920–2010), sociologist *

Cyprien Iov Cyprien Iov (born 12 May 1989), often known simply as Cyprien (), is a French comedian, actor, and YouTuber known for his short comic YouTube videos. He became known for his videos on Dailymotion under his pseudonym Monsieur Dream, before continu ...

(b. 1989), comedian and

YouTube personality A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influen ...

Constantin Levaditi Constantin Levaditi (1 August 1874 – 5 September 1953) was a Romanian physician and microbiologist, a major figure in virology and immunology, especially in the study of poliomyelitis and syphilis. Biography He was born in Galați. His father, ...

(1874–1953), microbiologist *

Eli Lotar Eli Lotar (born Eliazar Lotar Teodorescu; January 30, 1905 – May 10, 1969) was a French photographer and cinematographer. Lotar was born in Paris, the son of Tudor Arghezi, a Romanian poet, and Constanța Zissu, a teacher. http://www.ziarul ...

(1905–1969), photographer and cinematographer *

Henri Negresco Henri Alexandre Negresco (né Alexandru Negrescu; 14 March 1870 – 14 May 1920) was a Romanian hotelier and founder of the Hotel Negresco in Nice, France. He died bankrupt after World War I, his hotel having been commandeered into a hospital du ...

(1870–1920), founder of the

Hotel Negresco The Hotel Negresco is a hotel and site of the restaurant ''Le Chantecler'', located on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice, France. It was named after Henri Negresco (1868–1920), who had the palatial hotel constructed in 191 ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

* Gabriel Badea-Päun (b. 1973), art historian *

Valentin Poénaru Valentin Alexandre Poénaru (born 1932 in Bucharest) is a Romanian–French mathematician. He was a Professor of Mathematics at University of Paris-Sud, specializing in low-dimensional topology. Life and career Born in Bucharest, Romania, he di ...

(b. 1932), mathematician *

Alexandru Proca Alexandru Proca (16 October 1897 – 13 December 1955) was a Romanian physicist who studied and worked in France. He developed the vector meson theory of nuclear forces and the Relativistic wave equations, relativistic quantum field equations tha ...

(1897–1955), physicist *

Élisabeth Roudinesco Élisabeth Roudinesco ( ro , Rudinescu; born 10 September 1944) is a French historian and psychoanalyst, affiliated researcher in history at Paris Diderot University, in the group « Identités-Cultures-Territoires ». She also conducts a seminar ...

(b. 1944), historian and psychoanalyst *

Sonia Rykiel Sonia Rykiel (; ; 25 May 1930 – 25 August 2016) was a French fashion designer and writer. She created the Poor Boy Sweater, which was featured on the cover of French ''Elle'' magazine. Her knitwear designs and new fashion techniques led her t ...

(1930–2016), fashion designer

External links

Communauté Roumaine en France/Romanian Community in France

References

{{Romanian diaspora European diaspora in France

Immigration to France by country of origin