1996 in France

← 1995 1994 1993 1996 in France → 1997 1998 1999
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	History of France Timeline of French history List of years in France

Events from the year 1996 in France .

Incumbents

• President – Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister – Alain Juppé

Events

• 8 January – Former president of France and founder of the Socialist Party of France, François Mitterrand, dies. ^[1]
• 29 January – President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing. ^[2]
• 5 May – A fire in Paris destroys much of Crédit Lyonnais bank's headquarters. ^[3]
• 23 May – Members of the Armed Islamic Group in Algeria kill seven French Trappist monks, after talks with French government concerning the imprisonment of several GIA sympathisers break down.
• 27 – 29 June – 22nd G7 summit takes place in Lyon. ^[4]
• 8 October – Launch of Renault Mégane Scénic, a five-seater mini MPV based on the floorpan of the standard Mégane hatchback. ^[5]
• 18 November – Channel Tunnel fire on a truck being carried on an HGV shuttle. ^[6]
• Full date unknown:
  • Tennis Elbow video game is released in November 1996. ^[7]

Arts and literature

26th January - 24th March 1996 The Traffic (art exhibition) was on show CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain de Bordeaux ^{[8] [9]}

La Dernière Fête produced by Pierre Granier-Deferre was released ^[10]

Sport

• 29 June – Tour de France begins.
• 30 June – French Grand Prix won by Damon Hill of the United Kingdom.
• 21 July – Tour de France ends, won by Bjarne Riis of Denmark.

Births

• 7 February – Pierre Gasly, racing driver
• 8 February – Lys Mousset, footballer
• 26 February – Bertille Noël-Bruneau, actress.
• 21 March – Adam Ellis, grasstrack and speedway rider.
• 26 April – Laurine Lecavelier, figure skater.
• 9 May – Caroline Costa, singer and TV presenter.
• 13 June – Kingsley Coman, footballer.
• 21 June – Léa Lemare, ski jumper.
• 29 June – Estelle Elizabeth, ice dancer.
• 14 August – Neal Maupay, footballer.
• 15 August – Bahia Bakari, survivor of Yemenia Flight 626.
• 27 August – Estel-Anaïs Hubaud, competitor.
• 17 September – Esteban Ocon, racing driver
• 20 September – Anaïs Ventard, figure skater.
• 22 September – Anthoine Hubert, racing driver (died 2019)
• 27 September – Maxwel Cornet, footballer
• 12 December – Mathéo Tuscher, Swiss-born racing driver.
• 17 December – Anne Kuhm, gymnast.

Deaths

January

• 8 January – François Mitterrand, President of France from 1981 to 1995 (born 1916).
• 15 January – Max Varnel, film and television director (born 1925).

February

• 6 February – Jacques Wertheimer, businessman (born 1911).
• 11 February – Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger, photographer and ethnographer (born 1902).
• 14 February – Louis Finot, international soccer player (born 1909).
• 17 February – Hervé Bazin, writer (born 1911).

March

• 2 March – Célestin Delmer, international soccer player (born 1907).
• 3 March – Marguerite Duras, writer and film director (born 1914).
• 3 March – Léo Malet, novelist (born 1909).
• 17 March – René Clément, screenwriter and film director (born 1913).
• 20 March – Claude Bourdet, writer, journalist and politician (born 1909).
• 22 March – Claude Mauriac, author and journalist (born 1914).
• 24 March – Jean-Claude Piumi, soccer player (born 1940).
• 29 March – Christophe Caze, terrorist (born 1969).

April to June

• 21 April – Robert Hersant, newspaper magnate (born 1920).
• 29 April – François Picard, motor racing driver (born 1921).
• 25 May – Barney Wilen, saxophonist and jazz composer (born 1937).
• 30 May – Léon-Etienne Duval, cardinal (born 1903).
• 15 June – Raymond Salles, rower (born 1920).
• 15 June – Yvonne Vallée, actress (born 1899).

July to September

• 17 July – Paul Touvier, convicted of crime against humanity for his Collaborationist role during Vichy France (born 1915).
• 29 July – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, mathematician (born 1920).
• 2 August – Michel Debré, politician and first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic (born 1912).
• 4 August – André Trochut, cyclist (born 1931).
• 30 August – Christine Pascal, actress, writer and director (born 1953).

October to December

• 11 October – Pierre Grimal, historian and classicist (born 1912).
• 12 October – René Lacoste, tennis player (born 1904).
• 12 October – Roger Lapébie, cyclist, won the 1937 Tour de France (born 1911).
• 15 October – Pierre Franey, chef and food writer (born 1921).
• 17 October – Jean-Pierre Munch, cyclist (born 1926).
• 26 October – Henri Lepage, fencer (born 1908).
• 31 October – Marcel Carné, film director (born 1906).
• 3 December – Georges Duby, historian (born 1919).
• 3 December – Jean Tabaud, artist (born 1914).
• 9 December – Alain Poher, politician (born 1909).
• 11 December – Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, member of the French Resistance (born 1912).
• 21 December – Alfred Tonello, cyclist (born 1929).
• 25 December – Roger Duchesne, actor (born 1906).
• 25 December – Gabriel Loire, stained glass artist (born 1904).
• 29 December – Mireille Hartuch, singer, composer and actress (born 1906).

Full date unknown

• André-Georges Haudricourt, anthropologist and linguist (born 1911).

See also

• List of French films of 1996

References

1. "François Mitterrand (21st President of France)". On This Day. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
2. AP Archive (21 July 2015). France-Chirac Announces End To Pacific Nuke Tests . Retrieved 23 December 2025– via YouTube.
3. AP Archive (21 July 2015). FRANCE: PARIS: HUGE FIRE AT HEADQUARTERS OF CREDIT LYONNAIS BANK . Retrieved 23 December 2025– via YouTube.
4. "1996 Lyon Summit". g7.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
5. "Ludington Daily News – Google News Archive Search".
6. "Inquiry into the fire on Heavy Goods Vehicle shuttle 7539 on 18 November 1996 :: The Railways Archive". www.railwaysarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
7. "Mana Games • Previsional "Tennis Elbow 4" Planning". managames.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
8. "MAY, Quarterly Journal » Traffic: Space-times of the Exchange". www.mayrevue.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
9. "FORMER WEST – Traffic". formerwest.org. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
10. "La DERNIÈRE FÊTE (1996)". BFI. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2023.