Flag of Paris
This time Streets & Squares goes to Paris, the capital of France. The city is filled with eponymous addresses, which here may entail streets, squares, parks, bridges etc. The article may expand later on.
Those of you who have visited this lovely city, or read about it, probably know that it is divided into 20 areas or districts called arrondissements. The rule of thumb is that the lower the number, the more central the area is. The district numbers are given here after every address for orientation. Place means square, Pont is bridge, Quai is a street along a river, and Rue is of course just a regular street.
As always, clicking on the addresses will open Google Maps for you, and clicking on the names will (usually) lead to the person’s Wikipedia page. W or Wiki at the end will lead here to the French Wiki page of the street or place.
AVENUE ÉMILE ZOLA (15) Émile Zola (1840-1902) was a French novelist, playwright and journalist, and the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism. StreetView - Wiki
AVENUE FOCH (16) Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. StreetView - Wiki
AVENUE MONTAIGNE (8) Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. StreetView - Wiki
AVENUE VICTOR-HUGO (16) Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French poet, novelist and dramatist who wrote e.g. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). StreetView - Wiki
BOULEVARD DE ROCHECHOUART (18) - Marguerite de Rochechouart de Montpipeau (1665–1727) was abbess of Montmartre, the area where this street is located. StreetView - Wiki
BOULEVARD HAUSSMANN (8&9) Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809-1891) was a prefect chosen by Emperor Napoleon III to carry out a massive urban renewal program of new boulevards, parks and public works in Paris - his vision of the city still dominates central Paris. StreetView - Wiki
BOULEVARD RASPAIL (7,6&14) François-Vincent Raspail (1794-1878) chemist, physician (one of the founders of the cell theory in biology) and politician. Born in Carpentras, Vaucluse, French First Republic. StreetView - Wiki
EIFFEL TOWER (7) Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), French civil engineer who is best known of course for the Eiffel Tower - built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris - and also for his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York. Eiffel was born in Dijon, Côte-d’Or, Kingdom of France.
PLACE CHARLES DE GAULLE (8,16&17) Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) French general and statesman who led the French Resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II. Formerly (and still) known as Place de l’Étoile (Square of the Star), the square is the home of Arc de Triomphe. StreetView - Wiki
PONT ALEXANDRE III (1) Alexandre III of Russia (1845-1894), the Russian Tsar who concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892, lasting until 1917. This bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city. StreetView - Wiki
PONT DE BIR-HAKEIM (15-16) Named not after a person, but a battle. The Battle of Bir-Hakeim in the deserts of WW2 Libya in 1942 - StreetView - Wiki
QUAI FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND (1) François Mitterrand (1916-1996) was a French statesman who was President of France from 1981 to 1995. Born in Jarnac, French Third Republic. W - StreetView
QUAI VOLTAIRE (7) Voltaire (1694-1778) was a versatile and prolific French writer, historian and philosopher who advocated for freedom of religion, freedom of speech and separation of church and state. StreetView - Wiki
RUE ANTOINE HAJJE (15) Antoine Hajje (1904-1941) came to France at age 21, worked as a lawyer, and was executed by the Nazis as an International Red Aid member. Born in Larnaca, Cyprus. StreetView
RUE ANDRÉ DEL SARTE (18) Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) an Italian painter who remained in the shadow of his contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. StreetView - Wiki
RUE BOCHART DE SARON (9) Jean Baptiste Gaspard Bochart de Saron (1730-1794) was a mathematician and astronomer who was quillotined during the French Revolution. Born in Paris. Wiki - StreetView
RUE CAULAINCOURT (18) Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt (1773-1827) military leader, diplomat and close advisor to Napoleon Bonaparte – Caulaincourt, Picardy, Kingdom of France. StreetView - Wiki
RUE FROIDEVAUX (14) François Xavier Eugène Froidevaux (1827-1882) fire chief in a Paris fire department who died in line of duty. Born in Goumois, Kingdom of France. - Streetview - Wiki
RUE FROMENTIN (9) Eugène Fromentin (1820-1876) was a painter and writer who worked a lot in Algeria. Born in La Rochelle, Kingdom of France. StreetView - Wiki
RUE GEORGE EASTMAN (13) George Eastman (1854-1932) entrepreneur and the founder of Eastman Kodak and also of the dental institute on this street that bears his name. Born in Waterville, NY USA. StreetView - Wiki
RUE JEAN GOUJON (8) Jean Coujon (c.1510-c.1565) was a French Renaissance sculptor and architect. His art can be seen in several places in Paris. StreetView - Wiki
RUE LÉOPOLD-BELLAN (2) Léopold Bellan (1857-1936) industrialist and politician. Born in Méré, Second French Empire. StreetView - Wiki
RUE VICTOR-MASSÉ (9) Victor Massé (1822-1884) was a composer born in Lorient, Kingdom of France. StreetView - Wiki
SQUARE RAOUL NORDLING (11) Raoul Nordling (1882-1962 ) was a Swedish businessman and diplomat who was made an honorary citizen of Paris for all his war efforts. Born in Paris, French Third Republic. Streetview
A to Z FROM PARIS
i.e. a list of people born in Paris. Just another fun way to know something more about the city. We pick a couple of people for each alphabet, if possible. The numbers you see at the end of each line indicate the year of birth. This list is updated from time to time. And last but not least: the flag of the city, seen here above!
B - Luc Besson* film director (1959)
C - Huguette Clark* American painter/ heiress/philanthropist (1906)
D - Julie Delpy* French-American actress/film director/singer-songwriter (1969) - Alexa Davalos* American actress (1982)
E - Pablo Eisenberg* American tennis player/scholar/social justice advocate (1932)
G - Paul Gauguin* painter (1848) - Kathie Lee Gifford* American TV host/writer (1953)
H - Isabelle Huppert* actress (1953)
J - Jade Jagger* British-French model/jewellery & home designer (1971)
M - Claude Monet* artist (1840)
N - Raoul Nordling* Swedish businessman/diplomat (1882)
P - Roman Polanski* film director/ producer (1933) - Clémence Poésy* actress (1982)
R - Sebastian Roché* Scottish-French actor (1964)
S - Jean-Paul Sartre* philosopher/political activist (1905)
V - Voltaire* writer/historian/ philosopher (1694) - Hervé Villechaize* actor (Fantasy Island) (1943)
W - Emma Watson* British actress/activist (1990)
Updated 2025-0102 Helsinki