Profiles

Connexion journalists profile the people making the news or doing interesting things in France.

Archives Pierre UNGEMACH – Droits réservés

Profile: The American who was a ‘Schindler in France’

Varian Fry helped save the lives of some 2,500 people at risk from the Nazis by smuggling them out of France to safer countries, including the US

Jules Verne: the hidden story of France’s first science fiction writer

Family turmoil, ill health and hurtful rejection by literary peers plagued a life that was still full of travel and adventure

Meet Eugénie Brazier - France’s first six Michelin star chef

From working on the family farm, ‘Mère Brazier’ went on to make simple, Lyonnais cooking world class. We discover her life, recipes and legacy

Where life imitates art: France’s literary love affair with Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin – the performer, playwright and lascivious lover, better known as Molière – celebrates his 400th birthday this year

Jacques-Yves Cousteau - undersea explorer, filmmaker and so much more

The French naval officer helped millions of people see into the deep through his inventions and productions but he also worked on projects to build three underwater villages in Sudan

Joséphine Bonaparte, Napoleon’s wife, was nothing if not a survivor

Her life was far from ordinary: she lost her first husband to the guillotine, built up legendary debts and wild animals roamed freely about her extensive gardens

Two remarkable pilots whose lives both took flight in France

Awarded fifteen French war medals in his lifetime, Eugene Bullard’s piloting career and story demands a place in history. As well as that of inspiring Bessie Coleman

Anne de Bretagne: A symbol from birth of a ‘free’ Brittany

She was the ruling Duchess of Brittany by the age of 11 and engaged for the first time in what would be along string of strategic betrothals. The life of one of Brittany’s most famous figures was full on from start to finish

French microlight pilot realises her dream to fly solo across Africa

French nurse Rachel Muller had been flying microlights for 10 years when the idea came to her, and admits that it had become something of an obsession

Gustave Eiffel: Revealing the man behind the Eiffel tower

His impressive résumé covers iconic French railway bridges to contributing to the Statue of Liberty, his most famous work attracting more than 300 million visitors

'My experience of being a district nurse in France: C’est différent'

Retired nurse Alice Denot explains how her career took a different turn after she moved to France from the UK

Napoleon’s big brother is honoured in US with memorial park and museum

Napoleon’s lawyer and businessman older brother, Joseph, escaped to live in exile in new Jersey after the Battle of Waterloo

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