1996 in France

Incumbents

• President – Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister – Alain Juppé

  Events

• 8 January – Former president of France and founder of the Socialist Party of France, François Mitterrand, dies.
• 29 January – President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.
• 5 May – A fire in Paris destroys much of Crédit Lyonnais bank's headquarters.
• 23 May – Members of the Armed Islamic Group in Algeria kill seven French Trappist monks, after talks with French government concerning the imprisonment of several GIA sympathisers break down.
• 27 – 29 June – 22nd G7 summit takes place in Lyon.
• 8 October – Launch of Renault Mégane Scénic, a five-seater mini MPV based on the floorpan of the standard Mégane hatchback.
• 18 November – Channel Tunnel fire on a truck being carried on an HGV shuttle.
• Full date unknown:
• * Tennis Elbow video game is released in November 1996.

  Arts and literature

Sport

• 29 June – Tour de France begins.
• 30 June – French Grand Prix won by Damon Hill of the United Kingdom.
• 21 July – Tour de France ends, won by Bjarne Riis of Denmark.

  Births

• 7 February – Pierre Gasly, racing driver
• 8 February – Lys Mousset, footballer
• 26 February – Bertille Noël-Bruneau, actress.
• 21 March – Adam Ellis, grasstrack and speedway rider.
• 26 April – Laurine Lecavelier, figure skater.
• 9 May – Caroline Costa, singer and TV presenter.
• 13 June – Kingsley Coman, footballer.
• 21 June – Léa Lemare, ski jumper.
• 29 June – Estelle Elizabeth, ice dancer.
• 14 August – Neal Maupay, footballer.
• 15 August – Bahia Bakari, survivor of Yemenia Flight 626.
• 27 August – Estel-Anaïs Hubaud, competitor.
• 17 September – Esteban Ocon, racing driver
• 20 September – Anaïs Ventard, figure skater.
• 22 September – Anthoine Hubert, racing driver
• 27 September – Maxwel Cornet, footballer
• 12 December – Mathéo Tuscher, Swiss-born racing driver.
• 17 December – Anne Kuhm, gymnast.

  Deaths

January

• 8 January – François Mitterrand, President of France from 1981 to 1995.
• 15 January – Max Varnel, film and television director.

  February

• 6 February – Jacques Wertheimer, businessman.
• 11 February – Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger, photographer and ethnographer.
• 14 February – Louis Finot, international soccer player.
• 17 February – Hervé Bazin, writer.

  March

• 2 March – Célestin Delmer, international soccer player.
• 3 March – Marguerite Duras, writer and film director.
• 3 March – Léo Malet, novelist.
• 17 March – René Clément, screenwriter and film director.
• 20 March – Claude Bourdet, writer, journalist and politician.
• 22 March – Claude Mauriac, author and journalist.
• 24 March – Jean-Claude Piumi, soccer player.
• 29 March – Christophe Caze, terrorist.

  April to June

• 21 April – Robert Hersant, newspaper magnate.
• 29 April – François Picard, motor racing driver.
• 25 May – Barney Wilen, saxophonist and jazz composer.
• 30 May – Léon-Etienne Duval, cardinal.
• 15 June – Raymond Salles, rower.
• 15 June – Yvonne Vallée, actress.

  July to September

• 17 July – Paul Touvier, convicted of crime against humanity for his Collaborationist role during Vichy France.
• 29 July – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, mathematician.
• 2 August – Michel Debré, politician and first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.
• 4 August – André Trochut, cyclist.
• 30 August – Christine Pascal, actress, writer and director.

  October to December

• 11 October – Pierre Grimal, historian and classicist.
• 12 October – René Lacoste, tennis player.
• 12 October – Roger Lapébie, cyclist, won the 1937 Tour de France.
• 15 October – Pierre Franey, chef and food writer.
• 17 October – Jean-Pierre Munch, cyclist.
• 26 October – Henri Lepage, fencer.
• 31 October – Marcel Carné, film director.
• 3 December – Georges Duby, historian.
• 3 December – Jean Tabaud, artist.
• 9 December – Alain Poher, politician.
• 11 December – Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, member of the French Resistance.
• 21 December – Alfred Tonello, cyclist.
• 25 December – Roger Duchesne, actor.
• 25 December – Gabriel Loire, stained glass artist.
• 29 December – Mireille Hartuch, singer, composer and actress.

  Full date unknown

• André-Georges Haudricourt, anthropologist and linguist.