1904 in France

• President: Émile Loubet{{cite book |last1=Whyte |first1=G. |title=The Dreyfus Affair: A Chronological History |date=12 October 2005 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-58450-1 |page=472 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_rMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA472 |language=en}}
• President of the Council of Ministers: Emile Combes

• 23 February - First launch of a French diesel-powered submarine, Aigrette.{{cite web |url=http://www.navires-14-18.com/fichiers/A/AIGRETTE_MN_V0.pdf |title=AIGRETTE |website=Navires de la Grande Guerre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316214653/http://www.navires-14-18.com/fichiers/A/AIGRETTE_MN_V0.pdf |archive-date=16 March 2016 |last1=Dufeil |first1=Yves |last2=Le Bel |first2=Franck |last3=Terraillon |first3=Marc |date=17 April 2008 |language=fr |access-date=26 December 2021}}{{cite web |url=http://sous-marin.france.pagesperso-orange.fr/Q038.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029223832/http://sous-marin.france.pagesperso-orange.fr/Q038.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013 |title=Q 038 L' Aigrette |website=Sous-marins Français |language=fr |access-date=26 December 2021}}
• 8 April - Entente cordiale, a series of agreements signed between the United Kingdom and France.{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/entente_toc.html |title=Entente Cordiale Table of Contents |year=2000 |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040812065412/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/entente_toc.html |archive-date=12 August 2004 |access-date=14 February 2022}}{{cite web |title=BBC - History : British History Timeline |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/worldwars_timeline_noflash.shtml |website=www.bbc.co.uk |access-date=8 October 2020}}
• Global cosmetics companies are founded in Paris: Coty, by François Coty,{{cite news|last1=Wohl|first1=Jessica|title=Coty has staying power in bid for Avon|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/coty-avon-company-idUSL2E8F28HB20120402|access-date=2018-05-01|work=Reuters|date=2012-04-02|archive-date=2021-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202005550/https://www.reuters.com/article/coty-avon-company-idUSL2E8F28HB20120402|url-status=live}} and Garnier, by Alfred Amour Garnier.{{Cite web|title=Our Heritage|publisher=Garnier|url=https://www.garnierusa.com/about-garnier/our-heritage|access-date=2023-02-22|language=en}}

• Summer - Henri Matisse paints Luxe, Calme et Volupté at Saint-Tropez; it will be considered foundational in his own oeuvre and the starting point of Fauvism.{{cite book|last=Dempsey|first=Amy|year=2002|title=Styles, Schools and Movements: An Encyclopedic Guide to Modern Art|pages=66–69|location=London|publisher=Thames & Hudson}}

• 2 July - The second Tour de France begins.
• 24 July - Tour de France ends, won by Henri Cornet.

• 7 January - Pierre Allain, climber (died 2000)
• 13 January - Jean de Beaumont, sport shooter (died 2002){{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/42118 |title=Jean, Count de Beaumont |website=Olympedia |publisher=OlyMADMen |access-date=17 December 2021}}
• 14 January - Henri-Georges Adam, engraver and sculptor (died 1967){{cite dictionary |url=http://www.all-art.org/DICTIONARY_of_Art/a/Adam_Henri1.htm |title=Henri-Georges Adam |dictionary=Dictionary of Art & Artist |access-date=17 December 2021}}
• 4 February - Georges Sadoul, journalist and cinema writer (died 1967){{cite web |url=http://gsadoul.free.fr/ |last=Collet |first=J. |title=Georges Sadoul: BIOGRAPHIE simplifiée |trans-title=Georges Sadoul: Simplified BIOGRAPHY |date=14 February 2004 |language=fr |access-date=26 December 2021}}
• 11 February - Lucile Randon, supercentenarian (died 2023)[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/worlds-oldest-person-lucile-randon-dies-at-the-age-of-118/articleshow/97081252.cms World’s oldest person, Lucile Randon dies at the age of 118 ]
• 15 February - Louis Robert, historian and author (died 1985){{cite web |title=Louis Robert |department=Professeurs disparus |url=http://www.college-de-france.fr/default/EN/all/ins_dis/p1110984172464.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203214752/http://www.college-de-france.fr/default/EN/all/ins_dis/p1110984172464.htm |archive-date=3 February 2007 |publisher=Collège de France |date=16 March 2005 |language=fr |access-date=26 December 2021}}
• 24 February - Gaston Marie Jacquier, Roman Catholic prelate (died 1976)[https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bjacquier.html Bishop Gaston-Marie Jacquier †]
• 27 February - André Leducq, cyclist, twice Tour de France winner (died 1980){{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/15277 |title=André Leducq |website=Olympedia |publisher=OlyMADMen |access-date=26 December 2021}}
• 1 March - Paul Dubreil, mathematician (died 1994){{cite web |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Dubreil/ |last1=O'Connor |first1=J J |last2=Robertson |first2=E F |author-link2=Edmund F. Robertson |title=Paul Dubreil (1904 - 1994) - Biography |work=MacTutor History of Mathematics |date=October 2016 |publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland |access-date=19 January 2022}}
• 13 March - René Dumont, agronomist, sociologist and environmental politician (died 2001){{cite book |url=http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb11901119s |title=Notice de personne "Dumont, René (1904-2001)" |trans-title=Person notice "Dumont, René (1904-2001)" |date=10 December 2010 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |language=fr |access-date=19 January 2022}}

• 12 April - Arsène Alancourt, cyclist (died 1965)
• 13 April - Yves Congar, priest and theologian (died 1995){{cite encyclopedia |last=Groppe |first=Elizabeth T. |title=Yves Congar |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=18 June 2021 |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yves-Congar |access-date=17 March 2022}}
• 21 April
• Jean Hélion, painter and author (died 1987){{cite book |url=http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12301282x |title=Notice de personne "Hélion, Jean (1904-1987)" |trans-title=Person notice "Hélion, Jean (1904-1987)" |date=2 June 2010 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |language=fr |access-date=18 February 2022}}
• Gabriel Loire, stained glass artist (died 1996){{cite book |url=http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb11913236b |title=Notice de personne "Loire, Gabriel (1904-1996)" |trans-title=Person notice "Loire, Gabriel (1904-1996)" |date=7 January 2013 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |language=fr |access-date=18 February 2022}}
• 25 April - René Cogny, General (died 1968){{cite web |url=https://www.idref.fr/185854435 |title=Cogny, René (1904-1968) |website=IdRef |language=fr |access-date=18 February 2022}}{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&pg=PA222 |last=Dommen |first=Arthur J. |title=Cogny, René |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History |editor1-last=Tucker |editor1-first=Spencer C. |editor1-link=Spencer C. Tucker |display-editors=etal |edition=Second |volume=I: A – G |location=Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado, Oxford, England |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |pages=222–223 |isbn=978-1-85109-961-0 |access-date=18 February 2022 |via=Google Books}}
• 17 May - Jean Gabin, actor (died 1976){{cite web |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/p25439 |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |title=Jean Gabin {{!}} Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos |publisher=AllMovie, Netaktion LLC |access-date=15 March 2022}}
• 18 May - François Marty, Roman Catholic Cardinal (died 1994)
• 19 May - Daniel Guérin, anarchist and author (died 1988)
• 25 May - Marcel Thil, world champion boxer (died 1968)
• 8 June - Jean-Jérôme Adam, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Libreville (died 1981)
• 11 June - Gaston Charlot, chemist (died 1994)
• 29 June - Jean Berveiller, composer and organist (died 1976)

• 2 July - René Lacoste, tennis player (died 1996)
• 8 July - Henri Cartan, mathematician. (died 2008)
• 24 July - Leo Arnaud, composer of film scores (died 1991)
• 4 September - Christian-Jaque, filmmaker (died 1994)
• 7 September - Henri Pinault, Roman Catholic Bishop of Chengdu (died 1987)
• 18 September - Jean Dasté, actor and theatre director (died 1994)

• 8 October - Yves Giraud-Cabantous, motor racing driver (died 1973)
• 13 October - Antoine Gilles Menier, businessman and municipal politician (died 1967)
• 14 October - Christian Pineau, French Resistance leader and politician (died 1995)
• 12 November
• Henri-Irénée Marrou, historian (died 1977)
• Jacques Tourneur, film director (died 1977)
• 22 November - Louis Néel, physicist, the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1970 (died 2000){{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1970 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1970/neel/facts/ |website=NobelPrize.org |access-date=22 November 2021}}
• 6 December - Ève Curie, author and writer, daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie (died 2007)
• 12 December - Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor (died 1981)
• 21 December - Jean René Bazaine, painter, stained glass window designer and writer (died 2001)
• 31 December - Charles Fauvel, aircraft designer (died 1979)

• Raymond Molinier, Trotskyist (died 1994)

• 10 January - Jean-Léon Gérôme, painter and sculptor (born 1824){{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19040111.2.15&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |title=DEATH CALLS GREAT PAINTER AND SCULPTOR |journal=San Francisco Call |volume=95 |issue=42 |date=11 January 1904 |at=Page 3, column 1 |access-date=20 December 2021 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}{{cite web |title=Jean-Léon Gérôme - Biography and Legacy |url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist/gerome-jean-leon/life-and-legacy/ |website=TheArtStory |publisher=The Art Story Foundation |access-date=15 December 2021}}
• 26 January - Émile Deschanel, author and politician (born 1819){{cite book |url=http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb118997955 |title=Notice de personne "Deschanel, Émile (1819-1904)" |trans-title=Person notice "Deschanel, Émile (1819-1904)" |date=17 August 2010 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |language=fr |access-date=17 December 2021}}
• 3 February - Marie Firmin Bocourt, zoologist and artist (born 1819){{cite book |url=http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb10343600w |title=Notice de personne "Bocourt, Firmin (1819-1904)" |trans-title=Person notice "Bocourt, Firmin (1819-1904)" |date=22 August 2014 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |language=fr |access-date=17 March 2022}}
• 19 May - Auguste Molinier, historian (born 1851){{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Molinier, Auguste|volume=18|page=667}}
• 27 June - Anatole Jean-Baptiste Antoine de Barthélemy, archaeologist and numismatist (born 1821)
• 25 August - Henri Fantin-Latour, painter and lithographer (born 1836)
• 23 September - Émile Gallé, artist (born 1846)
• 4 October - Frédéric Bartholdi, sculptor, designer of the Statue of Liberty (born 1834)

• Paul Adolphe Marie Prosper Granier de Cassagnac, journalist and politician (born 1843)

• List of French films before 1910

{{reflist}}

{{France year nav}}

{{Year in Europe|1904}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1904 In France}}

Category:1900s in France