1974 in France

• President:
• until 2 April: Georges Pompidou
• 2 April-27 May: Alain Poher
• starting 27 May: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
• Prime Minister: Pierre Messmer (until 27 May), Jacques Chirac (starting 27 May)

• 1 March – Pierre Messmer finishes his first term as Prime Minister of France.
• 3 March – Turkish Airlines Flight 981 a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes into the Ermenville Forest just outside Senlis killing all 346 on board.
• 8 March – Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris.
• 2 April – President Georges Pompidou dies in office. Senate President Alain Poher becomes Acting President for the second time.
• 7 August – French acrobat Philippe Petit walks across a high wire slung between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 28 August – The Citroen CX, top model in the Citroen range, is launched – succeeding the 19-year-old DS.{{Cite web |url=http://www.citroen-ca.com/CXguide.html |title=Citroen CX Buyers Guide |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=9 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809191716/http://www.citroen-ca.com/CXguide.html |url-status=dead }} It is voted European Car of the Year.{{Cite web |url=http://www.caroftheyear.org/previous-winners/1975_1/coty |title=Previous winners - Car of the year - Car of the year |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622022835/http://www.caroftheyear.org/previous-winners/1975_1/coty |archive-date=22 June 2013 |url-status=dead}}
• 12 September – The crew of the {{SS|France|1961}} take over the ship off Le Havre in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent her withdrawal; she never sails under the French flag again.
• 9 December – The Paris summit, reuniting the European communities' heads of state and government, commences.

• 27 June – Tour de France begins.
• 21 July – Tour de France ends, won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium.

• 6 January – Romain Sardou, novelist.
• 13 January – Thierry Debès, soccer player.
• 16 January – Frédéric Dindeleux, soccer player.
• 20 January – Florian Maurice, soccer player.
• 21 January – Ulrich Le Pen, soccer player.
• 23 January – Bernard Diomède, soccer player.
• 3 February – Florian Rousseau, cyclist and Olympic gold medallist.
• 6 February – Sébastien Delagrange, golfer.
• 8 February – Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, musician.
• 10 February – Lionel Potillon, soccer player.
• 11 February – Sébastien Hinault, cyclist.
• February 13 – The Roc'h Trédudon attack, in Brittany.
• 17 February – Frédéric Bolley, twice motocross world champion.
• 20 February – Ophélie Winter, singer and actress.
• 23 February – Stéphane Bernadis, figure skater.
• 26 February – Sébastien Loeb, rally driver and three time World Champion.
• 17 March – Franck Bouyer, cyclist.
• 21 March – Sébastien Gimenez, soccer player.
• 31 March – Patrick Regnault, soccer player.

• 1 April – Cyril Raffaelli, traceur, martial artist and stuntman.
• 7 April – Julien Boutter, tennis player.
• 11 April – Franck Rénier, cyclist.
• 18 April – Olivier Besancenot, politician.
• 29 April – Pascal Cygan, soccer player.
• 8 May – Raphaël Jacquelin, golfer.
• 9 May – Benoît Salmon, cyclist.
• 10 May – Sylvain Wiltord, international soccer player.
• 11 May – Benoît Magimel, actor.
• 14 May – Pierre-Yves André, soccer player.
• 24 May – Florence Baverel-Robert, biathlete.
• 28 May – Romain Duris, actor.
• 1 June – Jérôme Vareille, soccer player.
• 10 June – Christophe Bassons, cyclist.
• 13 June
• Frédéric Bourdin, serial imposter.
• Claire-Marie Le Guay, classical pianist.

• 7 July – Doc Gynéco, hip hop artist.
• 10 July – Nassim Akrour, soccer player.
• 13 July – Ronan Le Crom, soccer player.
• 21 July – Frédéric Biancalani, soccer player.
• 22 July - Pierrick Boyer, pastry chef.
• 4 August
• Jean-Christophe Rouvière, soccer player.
• Thierry Thulliez, jockey.
• 5 August – Antoine Sibierski, soccer player.
• 7 August – Yohann Bernard, swimmer.
• 9 August – Raphaël Poirée, biathlete.
• 11 August – Audrey Mestre, free-diver (died 2002).
• 26 August – Sébastien Bruno, rugby union player.
• 3 September – Didier André, motor racing driver.
• 4 September – Jean-Pierre Simb, soccer player.
• 12 September – Caroline Aigle, first woman fighter pilot in the French Air Force (died 2007).
• 16 September – Frédéric Da Rocha, soccer player.
• 25 September – Olivier Dacourt, soccer player.
• 28 September – Frédéric Danjou, soccer player.
• September – Justine Lévy, author.

• 7 October – Hervé Alicarte, soccer player.
• 19 October – Laurent Brancowitz, guitarist.
• 21 October – Olivier Azam, rugby union player.
• 1 November – Renan Lavigne, squash player.
• 4 November – Jérôme Leroy, soccer player.
• 11 November – Bettina Goislard, United Nations worker (died 2003).
• 20 November – Alain Andji, pole vaulter.
• 27 November – Yann Le Pennec, slalom canoer.
• 28 November – Pascal Bedrossian, soccer player.
• 29 November – Cyril Dessel, cyclist.
• 30 November – Arnaud Vincent, motorcycle road racer.
• 6 December
• Stéphane Augé, cyclist.
• Delphine Combe, athlete.
• 9 December – Emmanuel Thibault, dancer.
• 11 December – Julien Robert, biathlete.
• 13 December – Richard Dourthe, rugby union player.
• 17 December – Yannick Fischer, soccer player.
• 22 December – Éric Despezelle, judoka.

• Thierry Bernard-Gotteland, French artist.
• Amelie Chabannes, painter and sculptor.
• Stéphane Michon, nordic combined skier.

• 21 January – Arnaud Denjoy, mathematician (born 1884).
• 30 January – Fernand Arnout, weightlifter and Olympic medallist (born 1899).
• 13 March – Henri Pequet, pilot, flew first official airmail flight in 1911 (born 1888).
• 28 March – Françoise Rosay, actress (born 1891).
• 2 April – Georges Pompidou, President of France (born 1911).
• 9 April – Pierre Petiteau, rugby union player (born 1899).
• 18 April – Marcel Pagnol, novelist, playwright, and filmmaker (born 1895).
• 20 May – Jean Daniélou, theologian and historian (born 1905).
• 25 May – Robert Levasseur, rugby union player (born 1898).
• 7 June – Émilie Charmy, artist (born 1878).{{cite web|title=Charmy, Emilie, 1878–1974|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr97029022.html|website=id.loc.gov|access-date=21 March 2019}}
• 12 June – André Marie, politician and Prime Minister of France (born 1897).
• 17 June – Pauline Carton, actress (born 1884).
• 19 June – Jean Wahl, philosopher (born 1888).
• 22 June
• Darius Milhaud, composer (born 1892).
• Alain Saint-Ogan, comics author and artist (born 1895).
• Gaston Thubé, sailor and Olympic gold medallist (born 1876).

• 4 July – André Randall, actor (born 1892).
• 9 July – Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, writer and artist (born 1884).
• August – André Edouard Marty, artist (born 1882).
• 4 September – Marcel Achard, playwright, screenwriter and author (born 1899).
• 17 September – André Dunoyer de Segonzac, painter and graphic artist (born 1884).
• 17 October – Jean Vaysse, rugby union player (born 1900).
• 27 October – Paul Frankeur, actor (born 1905).
• 22 November – Gilbert Degrémont, water treatment expert (born 1908).
• 20 December – André Jolivet, composer (born 1905).
• 21 December – Félix Amiot, aircraft constructor (born 1894).
• 26 December – Armand Marcelle, rower and Olympic medallist (born 1905).

• Michel Alaux, fencing master and Olympic gold medallist (born 1924).
• Roger Giroux, poet (born 1925).
• René de Possel, mathematician (born 1905).

• List of French films of 1974

{{reflist}}

{{France year nav}}

{{Year in Europe|1974}}

Category:1970s in France