The Romanians in France are French

citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

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, traditional ...

heritage who are born in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and live as

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

in France or are born in France from a Romanian immigrant family that came to France in the early 20th century. As of 2019, there were 133,000 Romanian-born citizens living 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, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, some Romanian soldiers were sent to France when the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

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 an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. An important figure of the Romanian-French

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

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

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, 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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

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 () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

in Romania, caused by the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revoluti ...

. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, 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 ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...

identifies French speakers in the country. According to the 2012

Eurobarometer Eurobarometer is a series of public opinion statistical survey, surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission and other Institutions of the European Union, EU institutions since 1974. These surveys address a wide variety of to ...

, 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 (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 Oficial de ...

(1922–2012), painter and sculptor * Natalia Dumitresco (1915–1997), painter * Tania Mouraud (b. 1942), contemporary artist * Stefan Ramniceanu (b. 1954), painter and visual artist *

Radu Varia Radu Varia (born 1940) is a Romanian art critic and art historian. Biography Born in Iași, Varia holds a degree from the University of Bucharest and a doctorate in History of Art and Civilization from the University of Paris. A friend of Salvado ...

(b. 1940), art historian

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 (1981 film), The Woman Next Door'') wit ...

(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), ...

(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 ''Ry� ...

(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 and filmmaker. She is the daughter of photographer Irina Ionesco and came to international prominence as a child model after being featured in her mother's works. Early life Ionesco was born t ...

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

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

(b. 1960), actress and screenwriter (Romanian mother) * Lana Marconi (1917–1990), actress * Alexandre Mihalesco (1883–1974), actor *

Radu Mihăileanu Radu Mihăileanu (born 23 April 1958) is a Romanian-born French film director and screenwriter. In addition to his work in cinema, he published a book of poems in 1987 titled ''Une vague en mal de mer''. His film ''The Source'' premiered in c ...

(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 Popes ...

(1894–1993), actress * Josiane Stoléru (b. 1949), actress *

Laurent Terzieff Laurent Terzieff (27 June 1935 – 2 July 2010) was a French actor and theatre director. Biography Terzieff was the son of French ceramistAnamaria Vartolomei (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 Romanian-French writer, socialite, style icon and political hostess. She spent her childhood ...

(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 aphorism ...

(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 *

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...

(1907-1986), historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago * 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 refug ...

(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#Avant-garde, French avant-garde th ...

(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, Greek and Bulgarian descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. She was the only female poet ...

(1876–1933), poet * Dumitru Țepeneag (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, c ...

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

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

movement *

Elena Văcărescu Elena Văcărescu, or Hélène Vacaresco (September 21, 1864 in Bucharest – February 17, 1947 in Paris), was a Romanian- French aristocrat writer, twice a laureate of the Académie Française. Life Through her father, Ioan Văcărescu, she d ...

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

Music

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; ; 13 August 1996) was a Romanian people, Romanian Conducting, conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over fi ...

(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 Zon ...

(1925–2004), composer and conductor *

Vladimir Cosma Vladimir Cosma (born 13 April 1940) is a Romanian composer, conductor and violinist, who has made his career in France and the United States. He was born into a family of Jewish musicians. His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, h ...

(b. 1940), composer, conductor and violinist *

Francis Dreyfus Francis Dreyfus (; 2 March 1940 in Le Raincy – 24 June 2010 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French record producer, who focused on jazz and electronic music, publishing Jean-Michel Jarre's first commercially successful work, ''Oxygène''. In 1971, D ...

(1940–2010), record producer *

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

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

Mareva Galanter Mareva Galanter (born 4 February 1979) is a French singer, actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Galanter won the 1998 "Miss World Islands" and the 1998 "Miss Tahiti" beauty contests. This allowed her to compete for the Miss France 1999 crown ...

(b. 1979), singer and former

Miss France Miss France is a national beauty pageant in France held annually in December. The competition was first held in 1920, and has been organized continuously since 1947. The trademark for the pageant is owned by the company Miss France SAS, and is ...

1999 * Costin Miereanu (b. 1943), composer * Horațiu Rădulescu (1942–2008), composer *

Lydie Solomon Lydie Solomon (Lydie Waï Solomon) (born 1982), is a French pianist and actress, born to a Franco-Romanian father and a Korean mother. She speaks fluent French, Korean, English, and Spanish and has a working knowledge of German and Italian. An ...

(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. In the Re ...

(b. 1954), member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

Roxana Mărăcineanu Roxana Maracineanu (; born 7 May 1975) is a Romanian-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 as ...

(b. 1975), current Minister of Youth and Sports of France *

Maurice Paléologue Maurice Paléologue (13 January 1859 – 23 November 1944) was a French diplomat, historian, and essayist. As the French ambassador to the Russian Empire (1914–1917), he supported the Russian mobilization against Germany that led to World War I ...

(1859–1944), diplomat * Lionel Stoléru (1937–2016), politician *

Nicolae Titulescu Nicolae Titulescu (; 4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was a Romanian politician and diplomat, at various times ambassador, finance minister, and foreign minister, and for two terms served as president of the General Assembly of the League of Nati ...

(1882–1941), politician

Sports

* Anne-Marie Bănuță (b. 1991), footballer * Ania Monica Caill (b. 1995), alpine skier * Alexandra Dascalu (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 football manager and former player. A former striker, Moldovan most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland ...

(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 381, reached on 29 August 2022. She has wo ...

(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. He was ranked world No. 5 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in 2000. Pioline was the runner-up at the 1993 US Open and the 19 ...

(b. 1969), tennis player (Romanian mother) * Rudi Prisăcaru (b. 1970), handballer * Jean-Charles Skarbowsky (b. 1975), kickboxer (Romanian mother) * (b. 1993), rugby union player * Cynthia Vescan (b. 1992), freestyle wrestler *

Victor Zvunka Victor Zvunka (; born 15 November 1951) is a French former association football, football Defender (association football), defender and football manager most recently in charge of Sporting Club Toulon. Zvunka was born in Le Ban-Saint-Martin. Ho ...

(b. 1951), footballer and manager

Other

Antoine Bibesco Prince Antoine Bibesco (; July 19, 1878 – September 2, 1951) was a Romanian aristocrat, lawyer, diplomat, and writer. Biography He was born as the son of Prince Alexandre Bibesco, the last surviving son of the ''Duke'' of Wallachia and ...

(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, which never flew. He invented a great number of devices, designed ...

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

rotary wing aircraft A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 14 of the ...

Alain Cribier Alain Cribier, FACC, FESC (25 January 1945 – 16 February 2024) was a French interventional cardiologist, Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiology at the University of Rouen's Charles Nicolle Hospital. Alain Cribier was best known fo ...

(b. 1945), cardiologst, world's first performer of the transcatheter aortic valve implantation * Mattei Dogan (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 contin ...

(b. 1989), comedian and

YouTube personality A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 200 ...

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 Constantin Levaditi was born in Ga ...

(1874–1953), microbiologist * Eli Lotar (1905–1969), photographer and cinematographer * Henri Negresco (1870–1920), founder of the

Hotel Negresco The Hotel Negresco is a luxury 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 construct ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionGabriel 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 d ...

(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 (; born 10 September 1944) is a French scholar, historian and psychoanalyst. She conducts a seminar on the history of psychoanalysis at the École Normale Supérieure. Roudinesco's work focuses mainly on psychiatry, psycholo ...

(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 * Nicolas Trifon (1949–2023), academic, editor and linguist *

Horațiu Potra Horațiu Potra (born 1970, Mediaș, Socialist Republic of Romania) is a Romanian-French security expert, businessman, mercenary, and political figure. He served in the French Foreign Legion, later working as a security chief for political fig ...

(b. 1970),

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

External links

Communauté Roumaine en France/Romanian Community in France

References

{{Portal bar, France, Romania France–Romania relations European diaspora in France