Living in the Languedoc: Some Famous Residents of and visitors to the Languedoc-Roussillon
- Hannibal, (247 BC – c. 183 BC) Carthaginian General who marched his famous elephants from Spain to Italy. Click on the following link for more about Hannibal's journey
 .
- Guilhem de Gellone, (755 - c. 813), (Toulouse)
Founder of the
Abbey of Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert and consequently
the
town of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. For more click
here
- The Master of Cabestany, (fl. 1150-1180) an anonymous medieval sculptor, famed for his distinctive style, who worked in the Languedoc and Roussillon, and takes his epithet from the town of Cabestany ion the Pyrénées-Orientales département. Click on the following link examples work by The Master of Cabestany ,
- Saint Roch, (1295 – 1327). A fictional figure supposedly from Montpellier, in the Hérault département. Credited with the ability to cure
the Black Death in the fourteenth century, and still popular
in Languedoc Churches today. Click here for more on
Saint Roch (or Saint Roque)
- Edward the Black Prince, (1330 – 1376), who travelled in the area more extensively than the French really liked in the Fourteenth Century. Edward led he Great Raid of 1355 on the Aquitaine-Languedoc Front, which crippled southern France, and provoked resentment of the French throne among French peasantry. The raid cushioned the area for conquest, opened up alliances with neighbours of Aquitaine (including Charles the Bad of Navarre). It caused many regions to reclaim their autonomy.
- Jean Nicot, (1530 - 1600) (Nîmes)
after whom nicotine is named. For more click here
- Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), who painted The Arcadian Shepherds (Et in Arcadia Ego) here around 1638. This painting plays a part in the famous mystery of Rennes-le-Château (Aude département). Click here for more about the mystery of Rennes-le-Château and here for more on Nicolas Poussin
- Pierre Paul Riquet, (1609 - 1680). Baron de Bonrepos, (Saint-Ferréol), engineer, almost single-handedly responsible for designing, financing and building the Canal du Midi. Click here for more about Pierre-Paul Riquet
- Sébastion le Plestre de Vauban, (1633-1707) Castle builder and military genius. Click here for more about de Vauban
- Moliere, (1622 – 1673) (Pézénas, Gard département), Playwrite and Pezenas fancier.
- Clive of India (1725 - 1774) (Pézénas, Gard département). Lord Clive, Governor of India, removed to Pézénas. His Indian chef gave a Pézénas pastry cook a recipe for petits pâtés, which are now a local speciality. Click on the following link for more about petits pâtés
- Thomas Jefferson, (1743-1826), (Canal du Midi), visiting dignitary interested in Canal du Midi (speculating about what is now the Panama Canal), but for famous for other things. He was also a great fan of Blanquette de Limoux.
- Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, (1814 - 1879) Historical Architect who saved the historic city of Carcassonne (Aude département) Click on the following link for more about Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his artistic work
- Frederick Mistral, (1830 - 1914), Nobel Prize winner, largely responsible for the revival of the Occitan language. Click here for more about Frederic Mistral
- Jean-Paul Laurens (1838 - 1921). Painter. Click on the following link for more about Jean-Paul Laurens
- Jean Frédéric Bazille (1841 - 1870). Painter. Click on the following link for more about Jean Frédéric Bazille
- Edouard Bernard Debat-Ponsan (1847-1913). Languedoc painter. Click on the following link for more about Edouard Bernard Debat-Ponsan
- Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903). Painter. Click on the following link for more about Paul Gauguin
- Robert Louis Stevenson, (1850-1894), (Cevennes), Writer and Cevennes muleteer .
- Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890). (Arles). Painter. Click on the following link for more about Vincent van Gogh
- Marie Petiet (1854 - 1893) and her husband Etienne Dujardin-Beaumetz. Painters in Limoux in the Aude département . Click on the following link for more about Marie Petiet and Etienne Dujardin-Beaumetz
- Achille Laugé (1861 - 1944). Painter in Limoux in the Aude département. Click on the following link for more about Achille Laugé
- Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 - 1901). Painter from Albi. Click on the following link for more about Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
- Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928). Roussillon painter (Port Vendres) . Click on the following link for more about Charles Rennie Mackintosh
- Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954), Fauvist painter. Developed fauvism along with André Derain in the Roussillon, notably Coullioure in the Pyrénées-Orientales département. Click on the following link for more about Henri Matisse
- Paul Valery, (1871 – 1945). Writer and poet from Sète, (Aude département) .
- Pablo Casals, (1876 – 1973), (Ille-sur-Têt in the Pyrénées-Orientales département), 'Cellist.
- André Derain (1880 – 1954), Developed fauvism along with Henri Matisse in the Roussillon, notably Coullioure in the Pyrénées-Orientales département. Click on the following link for more about André Derain
- Sir William Russell Flint (1880 - 1969). Painted extensively in the Languedoc. Click on the following link for more about Sir William Russell Flint )
- Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), Cubist painter who developed Cubism along with Georges Braque in the Roussillon, specifically in Céret in the Pyrénées-Orientales département. Click on the following link for more about Pablo Picasso
- Georges Braque (1882-1963), Cubist painter who developed Cubism along with Pablo Picasso in the Roussillon, specifically in Céret in the Pyrénées-Orientales département. Click on the following link for more about Georges Braque
- Juan Gris (1887 – 1927),
- Marc Chagall (1887-1985). Click on the following link for more about Marc Chagall
- Déodat Roché, (1877-1978) (Arques in the Aude département),
Cathar Historian.
- Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989). Click on the following link for more about Salvador Dali
- Patric O'Brian, (1914–2000), (Collioure) Author and biographer who lived in the Roussillon and one of whose heros (Stephen) was half Catalan. He lived in Collioure in the Pyrénées-Orientales département
- George Brassens, (1921 - 1981) , Singer and poet from Sète, (Aude département) . For some of his songs, click here
- Gérard de Sède (1921 - 2004), the historian who
popularised the mystery of Rennes-le-Château
in the Aude département.
For his obituary from the Independent, 24 June 2004, by
Marcus Williamson, click here
- José Bové (1953 - ) , (Béziers in the Hérault département),
Agrarian Champion. Click on the following link for more
on José Bové
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