1908 in France

← 1907 1906 1905 1908 in France → 1909 1910 1911
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s
See also:	Other events of 1908 Timeline of French history

Events from the year 1908 in France.

Events

• 12 January - A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
• 21 March - Henri Farman pilots the first passenger flight.

Sport

• 13 July - Tour de France begins.
• 9 August - Tour de France ends, won by Lucien Petit-Breton.

Births

January to March

• 9 January - Simone de Beauvoir, author and philosopher (died 1986)
• 12 January - Jean Delannoy, actor, screenwriter and film director (died 2008)
• 26 January - Stéphane Grappelli, jazz violinist (died 1997)
• 31 January - Simonne Mathieu, tennis player (died 1980)
• 12 February - Jean Effel, painter, illustrator and journalist (died 1982)
• 26 February - Jean-Pierre Wimille, motor racing driver and resistance member (died 1949)
• 27 February - Pierre Brunet, rower and Olympic medallist (died 1979)
• 29 February - Balthus, artist (died 2001)
• 5 March - Christian Boussus, tennis player (died 2003)
• 8 March - Raymond Dronne, politician (died 1991)
• 14 March - Maurice Merleau-Ponty, phenomenological philosopher (died 1961)
• 20 March - Roger Trinquier, army officer (died 1986)
• 25 March - Henri Rochereau, politician and European Commissioner (died 1999)

April to June

• 12 April — André Martinet, linguist (died 1999)
• 21 April - Louis Hostin, weightlifter and Olympic champion (died 1998)
• 5 May - Jacques Massu, General (died 2002)
• 29 May - Pierre-Henri Teitgen, lawyer, professor and politician (died 1997)
• 30 May - André Cheuva, soccer player (died 1989)
• 2 June - Marcel Langiller, international soccer player (died 1980
• 12 June - Henri Rol-Tanguy, communist and leader in the French Resistance (died 2002)

July to September

• 2 July - Léon Arthur Elchinger, Bishop of Strasbourg (died 1998)
• 5 July — Henri, comte de Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne (died 1999)
• 12 July - Alain Cuny, actor (died 1994)
• 25 July - Robert-Ambroise-Marie Carré, priest and author (died 2004)
• 5 August – Shlomo Pines, French-born Israeli scholar of Jewish and Islamic philosophy (died 1990)
• 18 August - Edgar Faure, politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist (died 1988)
• 22 August - Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographer (died 2004)
• 28 August - Robert Merle, novelist (died 2004)
• 2 September - Fania Fénelon, pianist, composer and cabaret singer (died 1983)
• 19 September - Paul Bénichou, writer, critic and literary historian (died 2001)
• 19 September - Robert Lecourt, jurist, fourth President of the European Court of Justice (died 2004)
• 25 September - Jacqueline Audry, film director (died 1977)
• 25 September - Roger Beaufrand, Olympic gold medal winning cyclist (died 2007)

October to December

• 30 October - Marcel Béalu, writer (died 1993)
• 1 November - Sylvia Bataille, actress (died 1993)
• 16 November - Sœur Emmanuelle, nun and aid worker
• 19 November - Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, organist and composer (died 2002)
• 24 November - Simone de la Chaume, golfer (died 2001).
• 10 December - Olivier Messiaen, composer, organist and ornithologist (died 1992)
• 17 December - Raymond Louviot, cyclist (died 1969)
• 31 December - Pauline de Rothschild, fashion icon and tastemaker (died 1976)

Full date unknown

• Gilbert Degrémont, water treatment expert (died 1974)
• Françoise Dolto, physician and psychoanalyst (died 1988)
• Célestin Lainé, Breton nationalist and collaborator (died 1983)
• Thierry Maulnier, journalist, essayist, dramatist and literary critic (died 1988)
• Luc Etienne Périn, writer (died 1984).

Deaths

• 29 January - François-Marie-Benjamin Richard, Archbishop of Paris (born 1819)
• 7 May - Ludovic Halévy, author and playwright (born 1834)
• 25 August - Henri Becquerel, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852)
• 14 November - Denis Jean Achille Luchaire, historian (born 1846)
• 27 November - Jean Albert Gaudry, geologist and palaeontologist (born 1827)
• 5 December - Ernest Hébert, painter (born 1817)

Full date unknown

• Marie-Louis-Antoine-Gaston Boissier, classical scholar (born 1823)
• Victor André Cornil, pathologist (born 1837)
• Jacques-Eugene Feyen, painter (born 1815)

References

Years in France 18th century 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 19th century 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 20th century 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 21th century 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029