← 1980 1979 1978 1981 in France → 1982 1983 1984
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	History of France Timeline of French history List of years in France

Events from the year1981 inFrance.

• President:Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (until 21 May),François Mitterrand (starting 21 May)
• Prime Minister:Raymond Barre (until 21 May),Pierre Mauroy (starting 21 May)

• 24 April –French presidential election: A first-round runoff results betweenValéry Giscard d'Estaing andFrançois Mitterrand.
• 10 May –Presidential Election won byFrançois Mitterrand.
• 21 May –François Mitterrand becomes the first socialist President of theFrench Fifth Republic.
• 14 June –Legislative Election held.
• 21 June –Legislative Election held.
• September – Launch of theRenault 9, a small-four door family saloon with front-wheel drive which falls into the Renault range between theR14 andR18 model ranges. It will share a floorpan with a new hatchback model to replace the R14 from early 1983.
• 18 September – France abolishes capital punishment, four years after its final execution.
• 27 September –TGV high speed rail service between Paris andLyon begins.
• December – The Renault 9 is votedEuropean Car of the Year.
• 1 December –Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308McDonnell Douglas MD-81 crashes into mountains inCorsica, killing 173 passengers and 7 crew.

• 4 January –Jean-Baptiste Paternotte, soccer player.
• 5 January –Sébastien Duthier, soccer player.
• 8 January –Mathieu Jost,ice dancer.
• 14 January –Myriam Baverel,taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medallist.
• 17 January –Thierry Ascione, tennis player.
• 17 January –Christophe Riblon, cyclist.
• 19 January –Maxime Laisney, politician.
• 19 January –Mathieu Maton, soccer player.
• 21 January –Florent Lacasse, athlete.
• 26 January –Edwin Ouon, soccer player.
• 1 February –David Martot, soccer player.
• 8 February –Bertrand Grospellier,pro gamer andpoker player.
• 15 February –Nicolas Rostoucher, swimmer.
• 20 February –Nicolas Penneteau, soccer player.
• 22 February –Élodie Yung, actress
• 26 February –Jean-Pascal Mignot, soccer player.
• 28 February
  • Nicolas Puydebois, soccer player.
  • Florent Serra, tennis player
• 8 March –Laurent Pichon, soccer player.
• 16 March –Julien Mazet, cyclist.
• 18 March –Maxime Grésèque,rugby league player.
• 20 March –Sylvain Monsoreau, soccer player.
• 21 March –Sébastien Chavanel, cyclist.

• 6 April –Sébastien Grégori, soccer player.
• 9 April –Gael Suares, soccer player.
• 13 April –Hassan Ahamada, soccer player.
• 16 April –Olivier Sorin, soccer player.
• 23 April –Vincent Bernardet, soccer player.
• 26 April –Matthieu Delpierre, soccer player.
• 2 May –Sébastien Maillard, athlete.
• 3 May –Benoît Cheyrou, soccer player.
• 7 May –Vincent Clerc, international rugby union player.
• 9 May –Ludwig Briand, actor.
• 9 May –Florine De Leymarie,Alpine skier.
• 13 May –Jonathan Joseph-Augustin, soccer player.
• 15 May –Patrice Evra, international soccer player.
• 22 May
  • Yorane Julians, basketball player.
  • Laurent Mangel, cyclist.
• 25 May –Thibault Giresse, soccer player.
• 2 June –Nicolas Plestan, soccer player.
• 7 June –David Attoub, rugby union player.
• 13 June –Guy Demel, soccer player.
• 16 June –Sébastien Roudet, soccer player.
• 30 June –Geoffroy Lequatre, cyclist.

• 15 July –Alou Diarra, soccer player.
• 19 July –Grégory Vignal, soccer player.
• 20 July –Jérôme Blanchard,pair skater.
• 28 July –Mathieu Béda, soccer player.
• 28 July –Vincent Restencourt,figure skater.
• 30 July –Sébastien Vaugeois, soccer player.
• 31 July –Sophie Duarte, athlete.
• 4 August –Frédérick Bousquet, swimmer.
• 6 August –Lucie Décosse,judoka.
• 12 August –Djibril Cissé, soccer player.
• 14 August –Adamo Coulibaly, soccer player.
• 20 August –Bernard Mendy, soccer player.
• 24 August –Hervé Bugnet, soccer player.
• 30 August –Grégory Béranger, soccer player.
• 3 September –Gautier Capuçon, cellist.
• 4 September –Gilles Rondy, swimmer.
• 16 September –Aurélien Boche, soccer player.
• 28 September –Loïc Loval, soccer player.
• 29 September –Julien Cardy, soccer player.

• 2 October –Jean-Félix Dorothée, soccer player.
• 4 October –Lionel Mathis, soccer player.
• 9 October –Gaël Givet, soccer player.
• 12 October –Guillaume Boussès, rugby union player.
• 30 October –Yohan Hautcoeur, soccer player.
• 30 October –Nicolas Laharrague, rugby union player.
• 1 November –Laurent Fressinet,chessGrandmaster.
• 1 November –Léo Margarit, musician.
• 17 November –Julien Brugnaut, rugby union player.
• 4 December –Thomas Pinault, soccer player.
• 19 December –Moussa Dabo, soccer player.
• 20 December –Julien Benneteau, tennis player.
• 25 December –La Fouine, rapper.
• 30 December –Cédric Carrasso, soccer player.

• 12 January –Marcel Gobillot, cyclist and Olympic medallist (born 1900).
• 13 February –René Taupin, translator, critic and academic (born 1905).
• 20 February –Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor (born 1904).
• 27 February –Pierre Deley, pioneering pilot (born 1893).
• 15 March –René Clair, filmmaker (born 1898).
• 21 March –Roger Blaizot, General (born 1891).
• 16 April –Count Renaud de la Frégeolière, author and first president of theFédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (born 1886).
• 25 April –Paul Bontemps, athlete and Olympic medallist (born 1902).
• 30 April –François Bordes, scientist, geologist, andarchaeologist (born 1919).
• 31 May –Michel Rougerie, motorcycle racer (born 1950).
• 13 June –Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert, General (born 1887).

• 11 July –Jean-Jérôme Adam, Roman CatholicArchbishop ofLibreville (born 1904).
• 9 September –Jacques Lacan,psychoanalyst,psychiatrist, and doctor (born 1901).
• 13 October –Philippe Étancelin, motor racing driver (born 1896).
• 16 October –Édouard Depreux, journalist, essayist and politician (born 1898).
• 29 October –Georges Brassens, singer and songwriter (born 1921).
• 3 November –Jean Eustache, filmmaker (born 1938).
• 10 November –Abel Gance, film director, producer, writer, actor andeditor (born 1889).
• 25 November –Romain Bellenger, cyclist (born 1894).
• 5 December –Maurice d'Hartoy, soldier, politician and writer (born 1892).
• 30 December –Job de Roincé, journalist and writer (born 1896).

• Colette de Jouvenel, daughter of writerColette (born 1913).

• 1981 in France
• 1981 by country
• 1981 in Europe
• 1980s in France
• Years of the 20th century in France

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2022