Famous French people of immigrant origin
France is an incredibly multi-ethnic country by European standards. At the crossroads of Europe, it has an ancient Celtic, Latin, Basque and Germanic heritage. Over 10% of the population of France is foreign, and almost one fourth comes from recent immigration (i.e. including children or grand-children of immigrants). Here is a list of a few famous ones.
Writers & Philosophers
Guillaume Apollinaire, born in Rome to a Polish mother and possibly Swiss-Italian father (birth name : Wilhelm Albert Vladimir Apollinaris Kostrowitzky)
Emmanuel Lévinas,born in Lithuania of Jewish parents.
Henri Troyat, son of Armenian immigrants from Russia (birth name : Levon Aslan Torossian)
Jacques Derrida, born in Algeria, into a Sephardic Jewish family.
Politicians
Pierre Bérégovoy, born of Russian parents.
Édouard Balladur, born in Turkey of ethnic Armenian parents.
Nicolas Sarkozy, Hungarian father, and French mother of Greek Jewish origins.
Singers
Édith Piaf, born of an Italian-Algerian mother and a French father.
Charles Aznavour, son of Armenian immigrants (birth name : Shahnour Vaghinagh Aznavourian)
Serge Gainsbourg, son of Jewish Russian immigrants.
Claude François, Italian mother.
Johnny Hallyday, born of a Belgian father and a French mother (birth name : Jean-Philippe Smet)
Sylvie Vartan, born in Bulgaria, daughter of a Bulgarian father of Armenian descent and a Hungarian mother.
Hélène Ségara, born of an Italian father and an Armenian mother (real name : Hélène Rizzo)
Actors/Comedians
Yves Montand, naturalised French actor, born Ivo Livi in Italy of Italian parents.
Jeanne Moreau, born in Paris to a French father and an English mother of Irish descent.
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sicilian father.
Jean Reno, born of Spanish parents in Casablanca, Morocco (real name : Juan Moreno y Herrera Jiménez).
Isabelle Adjani, born to an Algerian father and a German mother.
Samy Naceri, born to an Algerian father and French mother.
Jamel Debbouze, born of Moroccan parents.
Sports people
Alain Prost, partial Armenian descent.
Jean Alesi, born of Sicilian parents.
Yannick Noah, born of Cameroonese parents.
Zinedine Zidane, son of Algerian immigrants.
... many other football players.
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