1949 in France
Events from the year 1949 in France.
Incumbents
- President: Vincent Auriol
- President of the Council of Ministers: Henri Queuille, Georges Bidault
Events
- 19-25 August – 1949 Landes forest fire: a wildfire burns 50.000 ha of forest land and kills 82.
- 27 October – Air France Flight 009 flying from Paris Orly Airport to New York crashes on São Miguel Island in the Azores and kills all 48 on board, including violinist Ginette Neveu and boxer Marcel Cerdan.
- Simone de Beauvoir publishes her book The Second Sex, an extremely influential work for second-wave feminism, in Paris.
Sports
- 30 June – Tour de France begins.
- 21 July – Tour de France ends, won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
Births
- 11 January – Max Azria, fashion designer
- 11 January – Jean-Paul Enthoven, philosopher and publisher
- 18 January – Philippe Starck, designer
- 6 February – Olivier Chevallier, motor cycle racer
- 10 February – Maxime Le Forestier, singer
- 2 March – Isabelle Mir, Alpine skier
- 5 March – Bernard Arnault, billionaire businessman
- 22 March – Fanny Ardant, actress
- 1 April – Gérard Mestrallet, businessman
- 16 April – Claude Papi, soccer player
- 24 April – Véronique Sanson, singer-songwriter
- 27 April – Didier Daeninckx, author and politician
- 16 May – Gilles Bertould, athlete
- 13 June – Thierry Sabine, motor cycle racer
- 17 June – Serge Vinçon, politician
- 25 June – Patrick Tambay, racing driver
- 29 June – Henri Proglio, businessman
- 2 July – Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, actor
- 13 August – Philippe Petit, highwire artist
- 22 October – Arsène Wenger, soccer manager
- 25 October – Alain Escoffier, anti-communist activist, self-immolated
- 13 November – Gérard Lelièvre, racewalker
- 19 November – Raymond Blanc, chef
- Full date unknown – Jean-Claude Irvoas, murder victim
Deaths
- 28 January – Jean-Pierre Wimille, motor racing driver and resistance member
- 16 February – Roger François, weightlifter
- 4 June – Maurice Blondel, philosopher
- 24 September – Pierre de Bréville, composer
- 27 October – Marcel Cerdan, boxer
- 27 October – Ginette Neveu, violinist