Events from the year 2005 in France.

Incumbents

• President - Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister - Jean-Pierre Raffarin then Dominique de Villepin
• Interior Minister - Dominique de Villepin then Nicolas Sarkozy
• Finance Minister - Hervé Gaymard then Thierry Breton
• Foreign Minister - Michel Barnier then Philippe Douste-Blazy

Events

• 5 January - Libération journalist Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi guide Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi are taken hostage in Iraq (freed on 11 June).
• 11 February - André Vingt-Trois is named Archbishop of Paris.
• 23 February - A controversial French law on colonialism, requiring teachers to paint it in a positive light, is passed by the national legislature.
• 25 February - Resignation of Minister of Finance Hervé Gaymard, following a scandal over the low rent of the exclusive apartment he occupied.
• 31 March - An amendment to the 35-hour workweek law is voted, extending possibilities of overtime.
• April - The Fillon law reforming France's education system is voted, amidst student protests numbering hundreds of thousands.
• 6 April - First mental 13th root calculation of a 200-digit number, computed by Alexis Lemaire.
• 15 April - At least 21 people die and around 50 are injured in a devastating fire at a hotel in central Paris.
• 27 April - First flight of Airbus A380 in Toulouse.
• 16 May - Pentecost Monday ceases to be a statutory holiday, leading to strong protests.
• 29 May - French referendum on the European Constitution votes resoundingly to reject it.
• 31 May - A new government, headed by Dominique de Villepin, is nominated.
• 28 June - Official announcement that ITER will be built in Cadarache, Southern France.
• 5 July - Laurence Parisot becomes the president of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France.
• 2 August - Air France Flight 358 bursts into flames after skidding off the end of runway in Toronto, all passengers survive.
• 11 August - Ariane 5GS launches Thaïcom-4/iPStar-1, the heaviest telecommunications satellite to date at 6505 kg, into orbit.
• 16 August - West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes in Venezuela, killing 160, mostly French citizens from Martinique.
• 16 August - Assassination of Frère Roger, founder of the Taizé community.
• 3 September - Jacques Chirac is hospitalized for a "small vascular incident" affecting his eyesight.
• 27 October - 2005 civil unrest in France begins, and will last until 17 November.
• 8 November - President Jacques Chirac declares a state of emergency on the 12th day of the French civil unrest.
• 16 November - Ariane 5 launches Spaceway-F2 and Telkom-2, the rocket's heaviest dual payload to date, at more than 8000 kg.
• 18 November - Partial privatization of Électricité de France.
• 27 November - Surgeons in France carry out the first human face transplant on Isabelle Dinoire.

Arts and Literature

• 17 March - René Girard is elected to the Académie Française.
• 24 March - Celebration of the 100-years anniversary of the death of Jules Verne.
• 31 March - Launch of Digital terrestrial television, with 14 new channels.
• 2 July - Live 8 concert, Paris at the Palais de Versailles.
• 26 August - Jean Michel Jarre's "Space of Freedom" concert is held in Gdańsk, Poland, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the creation of Solidarność.

Film

• 2005 Cannes Film Festival
• March of the Penguins

Sport

• 8 May - Olympique Lyonnais wins the Ligue 1.
• 2 July - Tour de France begins.
• 3 July - French Grand Prix won by Fernando Alonso of Spain.
• 6 July - Paris loses the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games to London.
• 24 July - Lance Armstrong wins a record seventh straight Tour de France before his scheduled retirement.
• Sébastien Loeb wins the World Rally Championship with a record 10 victories.
• Ladji Doucouré becomes world champion of 110 metres hurdles and 4x100 metres relay at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics
• Vincent Riou wins the Vendée Globe race in 87 days.

Births

Deaths

January

• 3 January - Claude Meillassoux, economic anthropologist and Africanist (b.1925).
• 5 January - René Le Hénaff, film editor and director (b.1901).
• 7 January - Pierre Daninos, writer and humorist (b.1913).
• 8 January - Jacqueline Joubert, television presenter (b.1921).
• 8 January - Michel Thomas, linguist, language teacher and decorated war veteran (b.1914).
• 10 January - Georges Bernier, also known as Le Professeur Choron, humorist (b.1929).
• 11 January - Fernand Cazenave, international rugby union player and coach (b.1924).
• 15 January - Michel Moine, journalist and parapsychologist (b.1920).
• 27 January - Aurélie Nemours, painter (b.1910).
• 28 January - Jacques Villeret, actor (b.1951).
• 28 January - Karen Lancaume, adult film star (b.1973).

February

• 6 February - Hubert Curien, physicist (b.1924).
• 7 February - Madeleine Rebérioux, historian (b.1920).
• 7 February - Paul Rebeyrolle, painter (b.1926).
• 10 February - Humbert Balsan, film producer (b.1954).
• 10 February - Jean Cayrol, poet and publisher (b.1911).
• 11 February - Raymond Hermantier, actor (b.1924).
• 13 February - Maurice Trintignant, motor racing driver (b.1917).
• 15 February - Pierre Bachelet, singer songwriter (b.1944).
• 22 February - Simone Simon, actress (b.1910).
• 25 February - Jean Prat, international rugby player (b.1923).

March

• 1 March - Edouard Stern, banker (b.1954).
• 15 March - Jean-Pierre Genet, cyclist (b.1940).

April

• 8 April - Maurice Lafont, international soccer player (b.1927).
• 11 April - André François, cartoonist (b.1915).
• 11 April - Lucien Laurent, international soccer player, scored the first ever World Cup goal (b.1907).

May

• 3 May - Pierre Moerlen, drummer and percussionist (b.1952).
• 5 May - Claude Julien, journalist and editor (b.1925).
• 13 May - Eddie Barclay, music producer (b.1921).
• 20 May - Paul Ricoeur, philosopher (b.1913).

June

• 29 June - François-Xavier Verschave, one of founders of the NGO Survie (b.1945).

July

• 2 July - Pierre Michelot, double bass player (b.1928).
• 6 July - Claude Simon, novelist, 1985 Nobel Laureate in Literature (b.1913).
• 19 July - Alain Bombard, biologist, physician, politician and sailor (b.1924).
• 19 July - Jean-Michel Gaillard, politician (b.1946).
• 26 July - Pierre Broué, historian and Trotskyist (b.1926).
• 28 July - Jacques Lacarrière, ice hockey player (b.1906).

August

• 3 August - Françoise d'Eaubonne, feminist writer (b.1920).
• 7 August - Paul Arnaud de Foïard, General (b.1921).
• 9 August - Colette Besson, Olympic athlete (b.1946).
• 9 August - François Dalle, businessman
• 16 August - Frère Roger, founder of the Taizé community (b.1915).
• 22 August - Henri Genès, actor and singer (b.1919).
• 22 August - Luc Ferrari, composer (b.1929).
• 25 August - Jacques Dufilho, actor (b.1914).
• 31 August - Stéphane Bruey, international soccer player (b.1932).
• 31 August - André Debry, one of the last surviving French veterans of World War I (b.1898).

September

• 9 September - André Pousse, actor (b.1919).
• 17 September - Jacques Lacarrière, writer, critic, journalist, and essayist (b.1925).
• 24 September - André Testut, motor racing driver (b.1926).

October

• 5 October - Alexis Tendil, World War I veteran (b.1896).
• 25 October - Arman, artist (b.1928).
• 27 October - Jean-Claude Irvoas, murder victim (b.1949).
• 27 October - Rene Moreau, World War I veteran.
• 28 October - Raymond Hains, artist and photographer (b.1926).

November

• 7 November - Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, urban violence victim (b.1944).
• 9 November - Marceau Somerlinck, soccer player (b.1922).
• November - Dominique Chaboche, politician and MEP (b.1937).

December

• 4 December - Gloria Lasso, singer (b.1922).
• 17 December - Jacques Fouroux, international rugby union player, coach (b.1947).

Full date unknown

• Jean Catoire, composer (b.1923).
• Ernestine Chassebœuf, letter writer (b.1910).
• Madeleine Giteau, historian (b.1918).
• Jean Lescure, poet (b.1912).
• Laurent-Michel Vacher, philosopher, writer and journalist (b.1944).

References

1. "Face op woman braves media glare" BBC news