Thursday, March 17, 2005

French top 100 reveals surprises

I don't know enough about France to do a top 100, but I can name a few of my favorite French folks without thinking too hard (in no particular order):

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: arguably the single most important man of the last 200 or so years, if you consider creating modern Europe to be important.
MARIE CURIE: cuz of the science stuff.
VICTOR HUGO: pretty important writer, I reckon.
LOUIS XIV: makes explaining absolute monarchy a breeze.
JEAN PAUL SARTRE: seems pretty influential.
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE: for good or ill, helped the colonists win the American Revolution and went on to play a key role in the French Revolution.
GUSTAVE EIFFEL: sort of invented the skyscraper.
JACQUES COUSTEAU: made lovely documentaries and sort of invented scuba diving.
VOLTAIRE: brought the funny with the smart.
THE ANONYMOUS MAQUIS: modern symbol for resistance to oppression, if a bit mythologized.
DAVID: painted "a Marat", one of my only favorite paintings.

I need to learn more about France.

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