1959 in France

Decades:	1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s;
See also:	Other events of 1959; History of France • Timeline • Years

Events from the year 1959 in France.

Incumbents

President: Rene Coty (until 8 January), Charles de Gaulle (starting 8 January)
Prime Minister: Charles de Gaulle (until 8 January), Michel Debré (starting 8 January)

Events

8 January – Charles de Gaulle inaugurated as the first president of French Fifth Republic.
2 December – The Malpasset Dam collapses and floods the town of Fréjus, killing 412.^[1]

Arts and literature

11 March – Eurovision Song Contest held in Cannes.^[2]
29 October – Astérix the Gaul makes a first appearance in the first regular issue of the comic magazine Pilote.^[3]

Sport

25 June – 1959 Tour de France begins.
18 July – 1959 Tour de France ends, won by Federico Bahamontes of Spain, the first Spanish cyclist to win the Tour de France.

Births

1 January – Michel Onfray, philosopher and author
7 February – Christine Angot, novelist and playwright^[4]
18 March – Luc Besson, film director, writer and producer
1 May – Yasmina Reza, playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter^[5]
11 May – Didier Guillaume, politician (died 2025)
14 May – Patrick Bruel, singer and actor
28 May – Steve Jeltz, baseball player
19 June – Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris
6 July – Richard Dacoury, basketball player
15 July
- Christian Dornier, murderer
- Vincent Lindon, actor and filmmaker
7 September – Pierre Nanterme, business executive (died 2019)
19 October – Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain, politician

Deaths

21 January – Yves Le Febvre, writer and politician (born 1874)
17 April – Paul Dujardin, water polo player and Olympic medallist (born 1894)
5 May – Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente, cardinal (born 1872)
14 May – Sidney Bechet, African American jazz saxophonist (born 1897)
15 May – Jeanne de Flandreysy, writer (born 1874)
22 June – Félix Guignot, physician (born 1882)
23 June – Boris Vian, writer, poet and musician (born 1920)
25 November – Gérard Philipe, actor (born 1922)

References

^ "60 ans après la catastrophe - A Fréjus, les 423 morts du Malpasset hantent toujours les survivants". www.lamontagne.fr. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
^ "Television Programmes – Wednesday Evening". Radio Times. 6 March 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
^ "Les BD oubliées D'Astérix". BDoubliées (in French). Retrieved 3 October 2013.
^ "Christine_Angot". Igrs.sas.ac.uk. 6 November 1999. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
^ Notice de personne (in French). Retrieved 26 February 2023. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)

[LaM-1] "60 ans après la catastrophe - A Fréjus, les 423 morts du Malpasset hantent toujours les survivants". www.lamontagne.fr. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.

[Radio_Times-2] "Television Programmes – Wednesday Evening". Radio Times. 6 March 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

[3] "Les BD oubliées D'Astérix". BDoubliées (in French). Retrieved 3 October 2013.

[4] "Christine_Angot". Igrs.sas.ac.uk. 6 November 1999. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.

[5] Notice de personne (in French). Retrieved 26 February 2023. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Years in France
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15th century	1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500
16th century	1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600
17th century	1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700
18th century	1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

1959 in France

Incumbents

Events

Arts and literature

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References