1883 in France
Events from the year 1883 in France.
Incumbents
- President: Jules Grévy
- President of the Council of Ministers:
- * until 29 January: Charles Duclerc
- * 29 January-21 February: Armand Fallières
- * starting 21 February: Jules Ferry
Literature
- Pierre Loti - Mon Frère Yves
- Guy de Maupassant - Une vie
- Jules Verne - Kéraban-le-têtu
- Émile Zola - Au Bonheur des Dames / ''Pot-Bouille''
Events
- 27–28 March – Battle of Gia Cuc, French victory over Vietnamese forces.
- 19 May – Battle of Paper Bridge, French defeat by Black Flag forces.
- 25 August – Treaty of Hué signed between the Nguyễn dynasty Emperor of Viet Nam and the French Empire, recognizing French imperial control over the regions of Annam and Tonkin.
- De Dion-Bouton set up in Paris to manufacture mechanical road vehicles.
- The first purebred Percheron stud book is created.
Births
January to June
- 5 January – Marie-Louise Bouglé, feminist, librarian, and archivist
- 3 February – Camille Bombois, naïve painter
- 18 February – Jacques Ochs, artist, épée and foil fencer and Olympic gold medallist
- 15 May – Maurice Feltin, Cardinal
- 28 June – Pierre Laval, politician and Prime Minister
July to December
- 19 July – Louis Paulhan, pilot
- 25 July – Louis Massignon, scholar and historian of Islam
- 19 August – Coco Chanel, fashion designer
- 14 September – Rose Combe, writer and railway worker
- 14 December – Robert Péguy, film director
- 16 December – Max Linder, actor
- 17 December – Raimu, actor
- 19 December – Abel Bonnard, poet, novelist and politician
- 22 December – Edgard Varèse, composer
- 26 December – Maurice Utrillo, painter
Full date unknown
Deaths
- 4 January – Antoine Chanzy, general and governor of Algeria
- 23 January – Gustave Doré, artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor
- 17 February – Napoléon Coste, guitarist and composer
- 24 April – Jules Sandeau, novelist
- 30 April – Édouard Manet, painter
- 5 May – Louis Viardot, writer, art historian and critic, theatrical figure, hispanophile and translator
- 11 May – Juliette Drouet, actress, mistress and secretary of Victor Hugo
- 19 May – Henri Rivière, Naval officer and writer
- 25 May – Édouard René de Laboulaye, jurist
- 20 June – Gustave Aimard, traveller and writer
- 11 August – Edouard Louis Dubufe, painter
- 24 August – Henri, comte de Chambord, Legitimist Pretender to the throne of France
- 6 September – Auguste Arnaud, sculptor
- 29 October – Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose, Cardinal
- 27 November – Charles Théodore Colet, Roman Catholic Archbishop