Events from the year 1994 in France.
Incumbents President: François Mitterrand Prime Minister: Édouard Balladur
Events 20 March – Cantonales Elections held. 24 March – Cantonales Elections held. 20 April – Paul Touvier is found guilty of ordering the execution of seven Jews at Rillieux-la-Pape in June 1944, becoming the first French national to be charged with crimes against humanity committed during the German occupation of France in the Second World War. 6 May – The Channel Tunnel is opened by President François Mitterrand and Elizabeth II in two separate ceremonies held in Calais and Folkestone. 12 June – European Parliament election held in France. 30 June – Airbus A330 test flight crash in Toulouse, killing 3 crew and 4 passengers. 4 August – Toubon Law enacted. 3 November – A French magazine publishes photo of President François Mitterrand's secret daughter. 13 November – The first passengers travel through the Channel Tunnel. 7 December – L'étrange Noël de monsieur Jack on French Movie Theater 24 December – Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked in Algiers airport. 26 December – Raid of Air France Flight 8969: The Hijacked Air France aircraft is flown to Marseille and stormed by the GIGN, 4 hijackers and 3 others were killed. Sport 2 July – Tour de France begins. Two stages take place in England. 3 July – Michael Schumacher wins the French Grand Prix held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. 24 July – Tour de France ends, won by Miguel Indurain of Spain.
Births 6 January – Margaux Pinot, judoka 19 January – Adrien Hunou, footballer 23 January – Wesley Jobello, footballer 30 January Tom Hudson, actor Werenoi, rapper (d. 2025) 13 February – Axel Reymond, Marathon swimmer 3 March – Abdoulaye Touré, footballer 27 May – Aymeric Laporte, footballer 13 June – Guy-Elphège Anouman, sprinter 14 June – Romain Habran, footballer 17 July – Benjamin Mendy, footballer 3 August – Corentin Tolisso, footballer 17 August – Tiémoué Bakayoko, footballer 15 September – Raphael Severe, clarinet player 27 October – Kurt Zouma, footballer 8 November – Damien Dussaut, footballer
Deaths
January to March 2 January – Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, fourth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (born 1912) 15 January – Gabriel-Marie Garrone, cardinal (born 1901) 22 January – Jean-Louis Barrault, actor, director and mime artist (born 1910) 24 January – Yves Navarre, writer (born 1940) 27 January – Alain Daniélou, historian, musicologist and Indologist (born 1907) 30 January – Pierre Boulle, novelist (born 1912) 11 February – Max Leognany, artist (born 1913) 16 February – François Marty, Roman Catholic crdinal (born 1904) 24 February – Jean Sablon, singer and actor (born 1906) 9 March – Paul Dubreil, mathematician (born 1904) 28 March – Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright (born 1909) 31 March – Henri Gouhier, philosopher, historian of philosophy and literary critic (born 1898)
April to June 1 April – Robert Doisneau, photographer (born 1912) 3 April – Jérôme Lejeune, paediatrician and geneticist (born 1926) 9 April – Marcel Ichac, alpinist, explorer, photographer and film director (born 1906) 14 April – Jean Joyet, painter (born 1919) 17 April – Gaston Charlot, chemist (born 1904) 20 April – Jean Carmet, actor (born 1920) 29 April – Marcel Bernard, tennis player (born 1914) 16 May – Alain Cuny, actor (born 1908) 19 May – Jacques Ellul, philosopher, sociologist, theologian (born 1912) 3 June – Puig Aubert, rugby league footballer (born 1925) 14 June – Marcel Mouloudji, singer and actor (born 1922) 16 June – Bernard Moitessier, yachtsman and author (born 1925) 27 June – Jacques Berthier, composer (born 1923)
July to September 8 July – Christian-Jaque, filmmaker (born 1904) 17 July – Jean Borotra, tennis player (born 1898) 19 August – Louis de Froment, conductor (born 1921) 16 September – Albert Decourtray, Roman Catholic cardinal (born 1923) 23 September – Madeleine Renaud, actress (born 1900) 30 September – André Michel Lwoff, microbiologist, awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1965 (born 1902)
October to December 15 October – Jean Dasté, actor and theatre director (born 1904) 21 October – Benoît Régent, actor (born 1953) 18 November – Henri Choussat, gerontologist (born 1906) 30 November Guy Debord, Marxist theorist, writer and filmmaker (born 1931) Louis Gabrillargues, soccer player (born 1914) 7 December – Pierre Cloarec, cyclist (born 1909) 13 December – Antoine Pinay, politician and Prime Minister of France (born 1891) 18 December – Roger Apéry, mathematician (born 1916) 25 December – Pierre Dreyfus, civil servant and businessman (born 1907)
Full date unknown Raymond Molinier, Trotskyist (born 1904)
See also List of French films of 1994
References