First we had Great Britons, then we had The Greatest Canadian. Now, television brings you The Greatest French Person.
The 10 top finalists are an interesting list:
Military and political leader Charles de Gaulle
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Marie Curie
Chemist and microbiology pioneer Louis Pasteur
Comedian Coluche
Prolific comic actor and singer Bourvil
Poet and novelist Victor Hugo
17th century playwright Moli�re
Singer Edith Piaf
Undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau
Jesuit priest Abbé Pierre, a poverty activist who also helped Jews escape from the Nazis (and, at age 92, the list’s only living candidate)
Though de Gaulle, Piaf and Hugo are seen as predictable favourites, the selection of Coluche and Bourvil baffled many French pundits, as the two were popular in their day but not typically even considered among the country’s greatest comedians or widely known outside of France.
But what I want to know is…WHERE IS NAPOLEON? The man was Emperor of France, and took it to the pinnacle of power. Why is he NOT on the list?
Is it because of his Corsican birth?
I haven’t found any major controversy yet, unless I’m looking at the wrong sites and sources. But I think it’s an important question to answer: why is France’s greatest ruler not on the list of greatest French people?
Things that make you say “hmmm…”
