In French politics Afro-French members of the French Parliament or government from overseas France There have been dozens of Afro-Caribbean and Afro-French MPs representing overseas electoral districts at the French National Assembly or at the French Senate, and several government members. , first black politician •
Jean-Baptiste Belley, first black politician to take a seat at the
National Convention when elected on 24 September 1793, as one of three members (deputés) elected to the French Parliament by the northern region of
Saint-Domingue. •
Hégésippe Légitimus, second black deputy elected to the French National Assembly from 1898–1902 and 1906-1914. •
Gratien Candace, politician from
Guadeloupe who served in the
French Chamber of Deputies from 1912 to 1942 and served as vice-president of the
French Chamber of Deputies from 1938 to 1940. •
Blaise Diagne, political leader and
mayor of
Dakar. He was the first person of West African origin elected to the
French Chamber of Deputies, •
Achille René-Boisneuf,
Guadeloupe politician and one of the first black deputies in the
French National Assembly. He is incorrectly given the name Émile instead of Achille in Jean Joly's
Dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1889 à 1940 1946. •
Maurice Satineau, politician from Guadeloupe who served in the
Senate from 1948-1958 and the
French Chamber of Deputies from 1936 to 1942 (the Chamber was not summoned between 1940 and 1942) •
Roger Bambuck, Minister of Youth and Sports from 1988 to 1991. •
Aimé Césaire,
mayor of
Fort-de-France and deputy from
Martinique for the
PCF/
Martinican Progressive Party. •
Félix Éboué,
French Guianan-born colonial administrator and
Free French leader. •
Laura Flessel-Colovic, she became the Sport Minister in 2017. •
Serge Letchimy, deputy for Martinique
Socialist Party, Letchimy is also of partial
Tamil descent. was the vice-president (president of the Senate) during the two presidencies of
Général de Gaulle (1958-1968). •
Gaston Monnerville, politician and lawyer, he was the president of the Senate from 1958 to 1968. •
Maurice Ponga,
New Caledonian politician who served as
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the
Overseas constituency from 2009 to 2019. •
Christiane Taubira,
deputy from
French Guiana, was the first black candidate to a French presidential election, in 2002. In 2012, she became the Justice Minister until 2016. •
Manuéla Kéclard-Mondésir,
deputy from
Martinique was an MP from
Paris and faced allegations of anti-Asian racism and homophobia during her tenure is the spokeswoman for the
National Rally in the
European Parliament.
Afro-French people elected in metropolitan France •
Louis Guizot (1740-1794), magistrate, became the very first Black Mayor of a town in metropolitan France in 1790, before ending up guillotined during the
Reign of Terror. •
Severiano de Heredia, president of the municipal council of Paris (1879–1880/ sort of mayor of Paris ), deputy for Paris (1881–1889), minister (1887) •
Blaise Diagne (1872-1934), first person of Sub-Saharan African origin elected to the
French Chamber of Deputies, and the first to hold a position in the French government. • (1891–1945), first Black metropolitan
mayor elected through universal suffrage (1929–40) •
Élie Bloncourt (1896–1978), second Black metropolitan deputy (1936–40, 1945–47), first Black metropolitan
general councillor (1934–40, 1945–51) •
Ernest Chénière (1945–), former deputy for
Oise (1993–97) •
Hélène Geoffroy, deputy for
Rhône, mayor •
Maxette Grisoni-Pirbakas, elected an
MEP in 2019. •
Gaston Monnerville (1897–1991), first Black metropolitan senator (1946–1974), president of the French Senate (1947–68), mayor, president of
Lot's
general council •
George Pau-Langevin, Paris deputy (2007–12), junior minister (2012–2014), Minister for Overseas (2014–) •
Arthur Richards (1890–1972),
general councillor in
Bordeaux (1951–1964), deputy for
Gironde (1958–67) •
Rama Yade, former minister and secretary of State •
Harlem Désir, former minister for European Affairs and MEP, former
First Secretary of the French Socialist Party •
Kofi Yamgnane, former minister, former MP, former mayor, former
general councillor in Brittany. •
Hervé Berville,
Rwandan genocide survivor, French economist and politician,
Côtes-d'Armor MP for
La République En Marche! since June 2017, party spokesperson. •
Seybah Dagoma, then 34-year-old lawyer of
Chadian descent and founding member of a left-wing think tank, was elected in a Parisian constituency in 2012 and in office until 2017. •
Laetitia Avia, lawyer of
Togolese descent, member of the
National Assembly for the
Paris's 6th constituency elected in 2017, defeated in 2022 •
Danièle Obono,
Gabonese descent MP for
La France Insoumise representing the
17th Paris constituency since the
legislative elections of 2017. •
Nadège Abomangoli,
deputy from
Seine-Saint-Denis •
Pap Ndiaye, historian of Franco-Senegalese descent,
Minister of National Education and Youth from 20 May 2022 – 20 July 2023 in the
Élisabeth Borne government. •
Rachel Keke,
Ivorian-born French politician and former chambermaid, now member of the
National Assembly since 2022, representing the
7th constituency of the
Val-de-Marne department. •
Fanta Berete, politician of
Renaissance who has been serving as a
Member of Parliament for
Paris's 12th constituency since
2022. She was the substitute of
Olivia Grégoire who became a government minister. •
Carlos Martens Bilongo, French teacher and politician who has represented the
8th constituency of the
Val-d'Oise department in the
National Assembly since
2022 for
La France Insoumise (FI), he was elected under the
New Ecological and Social People's Union (NUPES) alliance.
Political activists •
Frantz Fanon,
Marxist,
existentialist and anti-colonial author and activist. Renounced his French citizenship. •
Louis-Georges Tin, president of the Representative Council of France's Black Associations and founder of the
International Day Against Homophobia •
Rokhaya Diallo, French journalist,
BET-France host, author, filmmaker, and activist for racial, gender and religious equality. •
Sibeth Ndiaye, French-Senegalese communications advisor. Government Spokeswoman for
Édouard Philippe's government from April 2019 to July 2020. •
Stéphane Pocrain, co-founder of
CRAN (
Conseil Représentatif des Associations Noires de France) and ecologist militant. •
Fodé Sylla, co-founder of CRAN, second president of the
French anti-racist organisation
SOS Racisme between 1992 and 1999.
In sports In basketball In football In rugby Other sports •
Christine Arron, track and field sprint athlete •
Roger Bambuck, track and field sprint athlete •
Surya Bonaly, Olympic figure skater •
Stéphen Boyer, volleyball player •
Laura Flessel-Colovic, fencer •
Vanessa James, Olympic figure skater •
Gaël Monfils, tennis player •
Daniel Narcisse, team handball player, IHF World Player of the Year 2012 •
Francis Ngannou, mixed martial artist •
Earvin N'Gapeth, volleyball player •
Barthélémy Chinenyeze, volleyball player •
Éric N'Gapeth, father of Earvin, volleyball player •
Yannick Noah, last French
French Open tennis winner to this day (1983), current French
Davis Cup coach •
Marie-José Pérec, multiple Olympic gold medal sprinter •
Jackson Richardson, team handball player, IHF World Player of the Year 1995 •
Teddy Riner, judoka •
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, tennis player •
Arthur Fils, tennis player •
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, tennis player •
Marc Raquil, French track and field athlete •
Ladji Doucouré, former French track and field athlete now
INSEP coach
In scientific fields Alice Sollier (1861-1942), first Black French woman to qualify as a medical doctor
Rose Dieng-Kuntz (1956–2008),
computer scientist specialising in
artificial intelligence In entertainment and media in 1932, distributing
pot-au-feu , French-American Classical musician and composer •
Ralph Amoussou, actor and thespian •
Josephine Baker, dancer, singer, actress, wartime spy for the Free French Resistance and French Airforce lieutenant nurse •
Edmond Dédé, French-American Classical musician and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana who settled in France in the early 1860s •
Darling Légitimus,
Volpi Cup for Best Actress-winning actress •
Euzhan Palcy, film director, screenwriter, and producer,
Academy Honorary Award lifetime distinction recipient •
Guillaume Guillon-Lethière, painter •
Élé Asu, journalist and TV presenter of
Nigerian descent •
Édouard Montoute, French actor and thespian •
Dominique Thimbakala, TV newscaster for
BFM TV •
Kareen Guiock, TV newscaster for
M6 •
Mouss Diouf, actor •
Aude Legastelois, actress •
Ladj Ly, film director and screenwriter •
Aya Nakamura, singer •
Miss Dominique, singer •
Fabe, rapper • Hélène and Célia Faussart (
Les Nubians), singing duo •
Aissa Maiga, actress •
Sonia Rolland, actress •
Imany, singer •
Hubert Kounde, actor and thespian •
Lord Kossity,
Dancehall musician •
Dieudonné, comedian and anti-Zionist activist •
Fab Morvan, model and singer, half of
Milli Vanilli •
Audrey Pulvar, newscaster and journalist •
Firmine Richard, actress •
Dominik Bernard, stage and film actor and director of
Guadeloupe origin •
Harry Roselmack, newscaster •
Omar Sy,
César-winning actor •
Tété, French pop-folk-blues composer-writer-interpreter, of
Martinique and
Senegalese descent, often likened to a Francophone
Jeff Buckley •
Steve Tientcheu, actor •
Olivier Coipel, comic book artist •
Bukola Elemide, Female musician •
Koba LaD, rapper •
Black M, rapper •
Booba, rapper •
Gims, rapper •
Lefa, rapper •
MHD, rapper •
MC Solaar, cult French rapper •
Niska, rapper •
Dadju, singer •
Shy'm, pop singer •
Les Twins, new-style hip-hop dancers • Ziak (
fr), rapper •
Jacky Brown and Ben-J (Nèg' Marrons (
fr)), reggae & hip-hop duo
In literature in 1930 •
Calixthe Beyala, writer •
Aimé Césaire, writer •
Suzanne Césaire, writer •
Maryse Condé, writer •
Raphaël Confiant, writer and academic •
Léon Damas, writer •
Gerty Dambury, writer, educator and theatre director from Guadeloupe •
Fatou Diome, best-selling and award-winning author of
Senegalese origin •
David Diop, novelist and academic researcher in 18th-century French and Francophone African literature •
Édouard Glissant, writer •
Viktor Lazlo, singer, actress and novelist •
René Maran, poet and novelist, first black writer to win the French
Prix Goncourt (in 1921) •
Daniel Maximin, poet, novelist, essayist •
Jeanne Nardal, writer, philosopher, teacher, and political commentator from
Martinique •
Paulette Nardal, writer and journalist •
Marie NDiaye, writer •
Gaël Octavia, writer, playwright, film director and painter •
Daniel Picouly, author •
Gisèle Pineau, novelist, writer and former psychiatric nurse •
Claude Ribbe, writer, activist and filmmaker •
Raphaël Tardon, writer, novelist and essayist of Martinique origin •
Guy Tirolien, poet •
Joseph Zobel, author of several novels and short-stories
European / African (or Afro-Caribbean) descent , one of the most important French novelists of the 19th century (
The Count of Monte Cristo,
The Three Musketeers...). •
Alexandre Dumas, writer •
Alexandre Dumas fils, writer •
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, general in the
French Revolution and father of
Alexandre Dumas •
Thierry Dusautoir, rugby player •
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, composer, conductor, and violinist, master fencer and military man •
Rudy Gobert, basketball player •
Noémie Lenoir, model •
Chevalier de Meude-Monpas, French musician and composer •
Chloé Mortaud,
Miss France 2009 •
Anais Mali, model •
Sonia Rolland, actress,
Miss France 2000 •
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, tennis player •
Gaël Monfils, tennis player •
Flora Coquerel, Miss France 2014 •
Alicia Aylies, Miss France 2017 •
Willy William, singer and producer •
Cindy Bruna, model •
Ciryl Gane, mixed martial artist
Others , from 1695 •
Louise Marie Thérèse, nun and maybe daughter of
Louis XIV ==See also==