1903 in France

Events from the year 1903 in France.

Incumbents

• President: Émile Loubet
• President of the Council of Ministers: Emile Combes

Events

• 10 August – Paris Métro train fire kills 84 people mostly at Couronnes station.

Sport

• 1 July – First Tour de France begins.
• 19 July – Tour de France ends, won by Maurice Garin.

Births

January to March

• 16 January – William Grover-Williams, motor racing driver and war hero.
• 13 February – Georges Simenon, writer (died 1989)
• 21 February
  • Anaïs Nin, writer (died 1977)
  • Raymond Queneau, poet and novelist (died 1976)
• 27 February – Fernand Gambiez, General and military historian (died 1989)
• 8 March – Jean d'Eaubonne, art director (died 1970)
• 9 March – André Godinat, cyclist (died 1979)

April to June

• 8 May – Fernandel, actor (died 1971)
• 15 May – Germaine Dieterlen, anthropologist (died 1999)
• 22 May – Yves Rocard, physicist (died 1992)
• 2 June – Max Aub, author, playwright and literary critic (died 1972)
• 18 June – Raymond Radiguet, author (died 1923)
• 25 June – Pierre Brossolette, journalist and Resistance fighter (died 1944)
• 28 June – André Maschinot, soccer player (died 1963)

July to September

• 25 July – André Fleury, composer, pianist and organist (died 1995)
• 15 August – Pascal Pia, writer, journalist, illustrator and scholar (died 1979)
• 19 August – Claude Dauphin, actor (died 1978)
• 29 August – Jean Follain, author, poet and lawyer (died 1971)

October to December

• 1 October – Pierre Veyron, motor racing driver (died 1970)
• 10 October – Ferdinand Le Drogo, cyclist (died 1976)
• 16 October – Cécile de Brunhoff, storyteller (died 2003)
• 18 October – Raoul Dutheil, footballer (died 1945)
• 19 October – Jean Delsarte, mathematician (died 1968)
• 23 October – The French Angel, professional wrestler (died 1954)
• 24 October – Charlotte Perriand, architect and designer (died 1999)
• 1 November – Jean Tardieu, artist, musician, poet and author (died 1995)
• 3 November – Charles Rigoulot, weightlifter, professional wrestler, race car driver and actor (died 1962)
• 9 November – Léon-Étienne Duval, Cardinal (died 1996)
• 15 November – Lucien Rebatet, author, journalist and intellectual (died 1972)
• 27 November – Julien Moineau, cyclist (died 1980)
• 30 November – Claude Arrieu, composer (died 1990)
• 17 December – Roland de Vaux, priest and archaeologist (died 1971)
• 23 December – Armand Blanchonnet, cyclist and Olympic gold medallist (died 1968)

Full date unknown

• Maryse Choisy, philosophical writer (died 1979)
• Pierre Naville, writer and sociologist (died 1993)

Deaths

• 28 January
  • Augusta Holmès, composer (born 1847)
  • Robert Planquette, composer of songs and operettas (born 1848)
• 5 March – Gaston Paris, writer and scholar (born 1839)
• 14 March – Ernest Legouvé, dramatist (born 1807)
• 28 March – Émile Baudot, telegraph engineer (born 1845)
• 8 May – Paul Gauguin, painter (born 1848)
• 16 May – Sibyl Sanderson, American operatic soprano (born 1864 in the United States)
• 13 November – Camille Pissarro, painter (born 1830)

Full date unknown

• Jean-Jules Allasseur, sculptor (born 1818)
• Louis-Arsène Delaunay, actor (born 1826)

See also

• List of French films before 1910