1879 in France

Events from the year 1879 in France.

Incumbents

President: Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta (until 30 January) Jules Grévy (starting 30 January)
President of the Council of Ministers:
until 4 February: Jules Armand Dufaure
4 February-28 December: William Waddington.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Waddington, William Henry | volume= 28 | page = 226 |short= 1}}
starting 28 December: Charles de Freycinet

April – Postman Ferdinand Cheval begins to build his Palais Idéal at Hauterives.{{Cite news |last=Blume |first=Mary |date=2007-05-03 |title=The postman who delivered a palace |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/arts/03iht-blume.1.5546120.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |issn=0362-4331}}
1 June – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial (Napoléon IV), great-nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte, Bonapartist Pretender to the throne, dies in Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War.{{cite web |date=8 November 2018 |title=Battle Royal - Louis, Prince Imperial |url=https://www.military-history.org/feature/battle-royal-louis-prince-imperial.htm |accessdate=2022-05-13 |publisher=Military History}}
17 July – Freycinet Plan enacted to extend rail and other transportation systems.
"La Marseillaise" is restored as the French national anthem.{{Cite web |title=Modern History Sourcebook: La Marseillaise |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/marseill.asp |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu}}

22 January – Francis Picabia, painter and poet (died 1953)
4 February – Jacques Copeau, journalist, actor, playwright, director, teacher (died 1949)
23 March – René Jeannel, entomologist (died 1965)
20 April – Paul Poiret, fashion designer (died 1944)
5 June – René Pottier, cyclist, winner of 1906 Tour de France (died 1907)
9 June – Joseph Avenol, 2nd Secretary General of the League of Nations
1 July – Léon Jouhaux, trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951 (died 1954)
13 July – Eugène Freyssinet, structural and civil engineer (died 1962)
11 September – Louis Coatalen, automobile engineer and racing driver (died 1962 in the United Kingdom)
23 September – Charles Camoin, painter (died 1965)
21 October – Joseph Canteloube, composer (died 1957)
17 December – Jean-Marie Charles Abrial, Admiral and Minister (died 1962)
31 December – Joseph Darnand, Bishop (died 1962)

10 February – Honoré Daumier, printmaker, caricaturist, painter and sculptor (born 1808)
25 February – Jean-Baptiste Glaire, Roman Catholic priest and Hebrew and Biblical scholar (born 1798)
2 March – Jules Bastide, publicist (born 1800)
30 March – Thomas Couture, painter and teacher (born 1815)
16 April - Bernadette Soubirous, nun and visionary of Lourdes apparitions (born 1844)
20 May – Pierre-Jules Mêne, sculptor (born 1810)
29 May – Pierre Adolphe Piorry, physician (born 1794)
1 June – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial, only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo (born 1856)
26 August – Charles Marie Edouard Chassaignac, physician (born 1805)
6 September – Amédée de Noé, caricaturist and lithographer (born 1818)
17 September – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, architect and theorist (born 1814)
12 November – Jean-Charles Chenu, physician and naturalist (born 1808)
18 November
Michel Chevalier, engineer, statesman and economist (born 1806)
André Giroux, photographer and painter (born 1801)
19 November – Jean-Joseph Gaume, Roman Catholic theologian and author (born 1802)
29 December – Jean Étienne Bercé, entomologist (born 1803)