1982 in France

Incumbents

• President: François Mitterrand
• Prime Minister: Pierre Mauroy

Events

• 18 January – Swiss activist Chaïm Nissim fires five rockets, obtained from the Red Army Faction through Carlos the Jackal, on the Superphénix nuclear plant, then under construction. Rockets are launched at the incomplete containment building and cause damage, missing the reactor's empty core.
• 2 March – Decentralisation in France: Law of Decentralisation creates the administrative regions of France.
• 14 March – Cantonales Elections held.
• 21 March – Cantonales Elections held.
• 22 April - April [1982 Paris car bombing].
• 4 June – 8th G7 summit begins in Versailles.
• 6 June – 8th G7 summit closes.
• 31 July – Beaune coach crash: 53 persons, 46 of them children, die in a road accident in Beaune in France's worst road accident.
• 9 August – Six people are killed and 22 injured when the Jo Goldenberg restaurant on the Rue des Rosiers in Paris' Jewish quarter is attacked by terrorists.
• 28 August – The "Irish of Vincennes" are arrested by a secret presidential anti-terrorist police unit on suspicion of the Jo Goldenberg attack. They are later exonerated when the evidence against them is found to have been planted.
• 2 October – Launch of the Citroën BX, successor to the Citroën GS.

Births

January to March

• 1 January – Yves Donguy, rugby union player.
• 4 January – Benoît Haaby, soccer player.
• 5 January – Benoît Vaugrenard, cyclist.
• 10 January – Julien Brellier, soccer player.
• 11 January – Loïc Guillon, soccer player.
• 11 January – Grégory Lacombe, soccer player.
• 12 January – Grégory Lamboley, rugby union player.
• 12 January – Paul-Henri Mathieu, tennis player.
• 13 January – Philippe Billy, soccer player.
• 21 January – Nicolas Mahut, tennis player.
• 21 January – Sarah Ourahmoune, boxer
• 28 January – Sébastien Puygrenier, soccer player.
• 2 February – Amelie Delagrange, murder victim.
• 28 February – Aurélien Capoue, soccer player.
• 8 March – Stéphane Biakolo, soccer player.
• 17 March – Matthieu Dafreville, judoka.
• 17 March – Julien Gorius, soccer player.
• 23 March – Christophe Coue, soccer player.
• 30 March – Philippe Mexès, soccer player.
• 31 March – David Poisson, alpine skier

April to June

• 4 April – Rémi Pauriol, cyclist.
• 5 April – Alexandre Prémat, motor racing driver.
• 25 April – Grégory Bourdy, golfer.
• 8 May – Habib Bamogo, soccer player.
• 17 May – Tony Parker, basketball player.
• 18 May – Yannick Bonheur, pair skater.
• 20 May – Lionel Djebi-Zadi, soccer player.
• 20 May – Clément Poitrenaud, rugby union player.
• 20 May – Donald Reignoux, actor.
• 26 May – Mathieu Martinez, Nordic combined skier.
• 4 June – Sébastien Portal, cyclist.
• 12 June – Sébastien Minard, cyclist.
• 17 June – Alexandre Alphonse, soccer player.
• 18 June – Fabien Lefèvre, whitewater kayaker.
• 24 June – Sylvain Guintoli, motorcycle racer.

July to September

• 2 July – Julien Tournut, soccer player.
• 5 July – Julien Féret, soccer player.
• 5 July – Lionel Gautherie, rugby union player.
• 7 July – Julien Doré, singer.
• 7 July – Samuel Nadeau, basketball player.
• 16 July – Claire Febvay, diver.
• 17 July – Wilfried Dalmat, soccer player.
• 21 July – Cédric Joqueviel, soccer player.
• 22 July – Xavier de Rosnay, musician.
• 27 July – Jean-François Kornetzky, soccer player.
• 28 July – Grégory Cerdan, soccer player.
• 28 July – Benoît Leroy, soccer player.
• 4 August – Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, rugby union player.
• 16 August – Valentin Courrent, rugby union player.
• 1 September – Lou Doillon, model and actress.
• 6 September – Stéphane Dumont, soccer player.
• 8 September – Sébastien Carole, soccer player.
• 26 September – Xavier Barrau, soccer player.
• 27 September – Adrianna Lamalle, athlete.
• 28 September – Nolwenn Leroy, singer and songwriter.

October to December

• 4 October – Grégory Christ, soccer player.
• 4 October – Nicolas Durand, rugby union player.
• 11 October – Emmanuel Leconte, actor.
• 18 October – Thierry Amiel, singer and songwriter.
• 22 November – Mathieu Bodmer, soccer player.
• 27 November – David Bellion, soccer player.
• 30 November – Clémence Poésy, actress.
• 23 December – Grégory Gaultier, squash player.
• 25 December – Yoann Langlet, soccer player.

Deaths

January to June

• 2 January – Victor Fontan, cyclist.
• 6 January – Louis Poterat, lyricist.
• 13 January – Marcel Camus, film director.
• 9 February – Marthe Richard, prostitute, spy and politician.
• 20 February – René Dubos, microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist and humanist.
• 3 March – Georges Perec, novelist, filmmaker and essayist.
• 26 March – Lisette de Brinon, socialite and collaborator.
• 15 April – Louis de Guiringaud, politician and Minister.
• 16 April – Gabriel Auphan, Admiral.
• 29 April – Raymond Bussières, actor.
• 8 June – Jean Wiener, pianist and composer.
• 29 June – Pierre Balmain, fashion designer.

July to December

• 12 July – Raymond Borderie, film producer.
• 18 July – Jacques Pras, cyclist.
• 7 August – Jean Beaufret, philosopher and Germanist.
• 15 August – Maurice Gallay, footballer
• 19 August – Claude Piel, aircraft designer.
• 11 September – Albert Soboul, historian.
• 13 September – Marius Canard, orientalist.
• 10 October – Jean Effel, painter, illustrator and journalist.
• 17 October – Antoine Béthouart, general.
• 18 October – Pierre Mendès France, politician and Prime Minister of France.
• 22 October – Savitri Devi, writer and philosopher.
• 3 November – André Chilo, rugby union player.
• 5 November – Jacques Tati, comedic filmmaker.
• 5 November – Yves Ciampi, film director.
• 11 November – Marcel Paul, trade unionist and communist politician.
• 21 November – Pierre Gaxotte, historian.
• 30 November – Martha Desrumeaux, militant communist and member of the French Resistance.
• 17 December – Philipp Jarnach, composer.
• 19 December – Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, organist, composer and architect.
• 24 December – Louis Aragon, poet and novelist.

Full date unknown

• Armand Barbault, chemist and alchemist.
• Andrée Clair, writer.
• Édouard Joly, aircraft designer
• Georges Neveux, dramatist and poet.