1985 in France

Incumbents

• President: François Mitterrand
• Prime Minister: Laurent Fabius

  Events

• 1 February – 13 nations and the World Bank set up a fund for Africa
• 10 March – Cantonales Elections held.
• 17 March – Cantonales Elections held.
• 3 April – The government announces changes to the country's electoral system, so that deputies will in future be elected by proportional representation.
• 10 July – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure agents.
• 25 July – American actor Rock Hudson, 59, announces from his bed in a Paris hospital that he is suffering from AIDS.
• 1 September – A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
• October – Peugeot launches its new 309 hatchback, which will be built at Poissy and also at the Ryton plant near Coventry, England, which currently produces Talbot cars. The 309 was developed with the intention of using the Talbot brand, but Talbot will soon be phased out on passenger cars.
• 22 September – 5 October. Paris's oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, is entirely wrapped in polyamide fabric by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
• 22 November – Launch of the Renault 21, which will go on sale in the new year as replacement for the Renault 18.
• 18 December – A site to the east of Paris is selected by Disney as the site of the Euro Disney resort and theme park; it is hoped that the resort will be open by 1991.

  Births

January to March

• 5 January – Mélanie Bernier, actress.
• 11 January – Julien Loubet, cyclist.
• 13 January – Souleymane Bamba, soccer player.
• 18 January – Benoît Benvegnu, soccer player.
• 22 January – Kevin Lejeune, soccer player.
• 23 January – Guy Moussi, soccer player.
• 23 January – Sarah Tanzilli, politician.
• 29 January – Salomé Stévenin, actress.
• 31 January – Grégory Baugé, cyclist.
• 1 February – Yohann Lacroix, soccer player.
• 4 February – Clément Pinault, soccer player.
• 7 February – Christophe Mandanne, soccer player.
• 8 February – Habib Baldé, soccer player.
• 22 February – Hamer Bouazza, soccer player.
• 25 February – Joakim Noah, Former basketball player
• 28 February – Fabien Camus, soccer player.
• 4 March – Mathieu Montcourt, tennis player.
• 7 March – Mohamed Fofana, soccer player.
• 10 March – Lassana Diarra, soccer player.
• 14 March – Loïc Jacquet, rugby union player.
• 22 March – Lizzie Brocheré, actress
• 23 March – Jonathan Hivert, cyclist.
• 28 March – Steve Mandanda, association football player

  April to June

• 17 April – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, tennis player
• 19 April – Nicolas Maurice-Belay, soccer player.
• 22 April – Florian Cazalot, rugby union player.
• 24 April – Joséphine Jobert, actress and singer
• 30 April – Guillaume Rippert, soccer player.
• 8 May – Cédric Pineau, cyclist.
• 9 May – Jérémie Roumegous, soccer player.
• 10 May – Pierre Drancourt, cyclist.
• 12 May – André-Pierre Gignac, soccer player.
• 14 May – Baptiste Martin, soccer player.
• 20 May – Maxime Laheurte, nordic combined skier.
• 23 May – Jean-Charles Sénac, cyclist.
• 25 May – Demba Ba, footballer
• 28 May – Simon Pouplin, soccer player.
• 1 June – Julien El Fares, cyclist.
• 2 June – Mathieu Robail, soccer player.
• 3 June – Jiovanny William, politician
• 17 June – Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi, soccer player.
• 18 June – Bertrand N'Dzomo, soccer player.
• 21 June – Amel Bent, singer
• 26 June – Stéphane Poulhies, cyclist.

  July to September

• 1 July – Léa Seydoux, actress
• 4 July – David Larose, judoka.
• 12 July – Maurice Dalé, soccer player.
• 12 July – Jean-Christophe Vergerolle, soccer player.
• 16 July – Olivier Veigneau, soccer player.
• 22 July – Boukary Dramé, soccer player.
• 25 July – Mathieu Debuchy, soccer player.
• 25 July – Guillaume Levarlet, cyclist.
• 26 July – Gaël Clichy, soccer player.
• 31 July – Rémy Di Gregorio, cyclist.
• 6 August – Bafétimbi Gomis, footballer
• 7 August – Loïc Perrin, soccer player.
• 15 August – Julien N'Da, soccer player.
• 10 September – Laurent Koscielny, soccer player.
• 12 September – Jonatan Cerrada, Belgian-born singer and winner of À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star
• 19 September – Paul Vannier, politician.
• 20 September – Alban Préaubert, figure skater.
• 21 September – Jean-Louis Leca, soccer player.
• 26 September – Matt Pokora, singer.

  October to December

• 3 October – Julien Gerbi, motor racing driver
• 4 October – Julien Simon, cyclist
• 24 October – Lionel Beauxis, rugby union player
• 26 October – Soko, musician and actress
• 29 October – Romain Vincelot, soccer player
• 4 November – Gauthier Diafutua, soccer player
• 8 November – Vincent Bessat, soccer player
• 18 November – Thomas Portes, politician.
• 26 November – Sophie Huber, freestyle swimmer
• 28 November – Shy'm, singer
• 2 December – Amaury Leveaux, swimmer
• 19 December – Julien Toudic, soccer player
• 28 December – Benoît Trémoulinas, soccer player

  Full date unknown

• Faïza Guène, writer and director.

  Deaths

January to June

• 2 January – Jacques de Lacretelle, novelist.
• 3 January – Lucien Cailliet, composer, conductor, arranger and clarinetist.
• 14 February – Jean-Marie Loret, railroad worker and alleged illegitimate son of Adolf Hitler
• 20 February – Georges Girard, bacteriologist.
• 12 March – Alfred Eluère, rugby union player.
• 28 March – Marc Chagall, Russian–French artist.
• 15 April – Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon, film director, script-writer, playwright and author.
• 17 April – Germaine Sablon, singer and actress.
• 20 April – André Rollet, footballer.
• 12 May – Jean Dubuffet, painter and sculptor.
• 31 May – Gaston Rébuffat, alpinist and mountain guide.
• 31 May – Louis Robert, historian and author.
• 1 June – Eugène Séguy, entomologist.
• 12 June – Dominique Laffin, actress.

  July to December

• 9 July – Pierre-Paul Grassé, zoologist.
• 17 July – Philippe de Chérisey, writer, radio humorist, and actor.
• 1 August – Jules Moch, politician.
• 14 August – Marie Bell, actress and stage director.
• 29 August – Michel Pécheux, fencer.
• 3 September – Gilles Thomas, science fiction writer.
• 30 September – Simone Signoret, actress.
• 24 November – René Barjavel, author, journalist and critic.
• 27 November
• * Fernand Braudel, historian.
• * André Hunebelle, film director.
• 13 December – Pierre Nord, writer, spy and resistance member.
• 27 December – Jean Rondeau, motor racing driver and constructor.

  Full date unknown

• Gerard Albouy, milliner.
• Ferdinand Alquié, philosopher.
• François Châtelet, historian of philosophy.
• Henri-Robert Petit, journalist, Collaborationist under the Vichy regime and far-right activist.