Notable people who served in the Foreign Legion. The following is a list of legionnaires who have gained fame or notoriety inside or outside of the legion.

Officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

Alexandre Joseph Count Colonna-Walewski Alexandre Florian Joseph, Count Colonna-Walewski (; pl, Aleksander Florian Józef Colonna-Walewski; 4 May 181027 September 1868), was a Polish and French politician and diplomat, best known for his position as Foreign Minister of France under ...

, non-marital son of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Prince Aage of Denmark Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg, (Aage Christian Alexander Robert; 10 June 1887 – 19 February 1940) was a Danish prince and officer of the French Foreign Legion. He was born in Copenhagen the eldest child and son of Prince Valdemar of Denmark and ...

Dimitri Amilakvari Prince Dimitri Zedginidze-Amilakhvari, more commonly known as Dimitri Amilakhvari ( ka, დიმიტრი ამილახვარი, french: Dimitri Amilakvari) (31 October 1906 – 24 October 1942) was a French military officer of ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

noble, became an iconic figure of the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

. *

Paul Arnaud de Foïard Paul Marie Félix Jacques René Arnaud de Foïard (9 September 1921 – 7 August 2005) was a général of the French Army who served primarily in the French Foreign Legion taking part in World War II and the conflicts of Indochina and Algeria. M ...

* Crown Prince Bảo Long (Chữ nôm 保隆) of Vietnam - head of the Nguyễn Dynasty, the now deposed Emperors of Vietnam *

François Achille Bazaine François Achille Bazaine (13 February 181123 September 1888) was an officer of the French army. Rising from the ranks, during four decades of distinguished service (including 35 years on campaign) under Louis-Philippe and then Napoleon III, he h ...

- Marshal of France *

Prince Louis Napoléon A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

- Prince Imperial * Dominique Borella- French mercenary and anti-Communist *

Augustus Buchel Augustus Carl Buchel (October 8, 1813 – April 15, 1864) was a German-born military officer who served in several national armies during the 1800s. During the American Civil War, he served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army. Born in ...

François Certain Canrobert François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

- Marshal of France *

Jean Danjou Jean Danjou (15 April 1828 – 30 April 1863) was a decorated captain of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. He commanded the two lieutenants and 62 legionnaires who fought the Battle of Camarón during the French intervention in Mexico, i ...

- Commander at the

Battle of Camarón The Battle of Camarón (french: Bataille de Camerone) which occurred over ten hours on 30 April 1863 between the Foreign Legion of the French Army and the Mexican army, is regarded as a defining moment in the Foreign Legion's history. A small ...

Jules Gaucher Jules Gaucher (13 September 1905 – 13 March 1954) was a French Army officer noted for his command of Foreign Legion troops in Indochina. Described as a "burly, hard-drinking veteran of years of jungle fighting, with a nose like an axe-blade an ...

- commander 13 DBLE, killed at

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

. *

Georges Hamacek Georges Marion Pierre Hamacek (1 December 1923 – 11 May 1953) was a French Army officer, who fought in World War II in the French Resistance and in the First Indochina War in the Foreign Legion. Biography Georges Hamacek was born in a family o ...

* John F. "Jack" Hasey *

Pierre Jeanpierre Pierre Paul Jeanpierre (14 March 1912 – 29 May 1958) was a senior officer of the Foreign Legion. He initially served in the French Army and fought during World War II, the First Indochina War, the Suez Crisis and the Algerian War, where he ...

Aarne Juutilainen Aarne Edward Juutilainen (; 18 October 1904 – 28 October 1976), nicknamed "The Terror of Morocco", was a Finnish army captain who served in the French Foreign Legion in Morocco between 1930 and 1935. After returning to Finland, he served ...

Pierre Koenig Pierre Francis Koenig (October 17, 1925 – April 4, 2004) was an American architect and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California. He taught at the USC School of Architecture from 1964 until his death in 2004. H ...

André Lalande André Lalande (26 May 1913 – 19 October 1995) was a French Army officer and general in the Chasseurs Alpins and French Foreign Legion. He fought during the World War II at the heart of the Free French Forces, then in First Indochina War, Indoc ...

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

Prince Louis II of Monaco Louis II (Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi; 12 July 1870 – 9 May 1949) was Prince of Monaco from 26 June 1922 to 9 May 1949. Early years Born in Baden-Baden, (Germany), he was the only child of Albert I, Prince of Monaco (1848–1922), a ...

Patrice MacMahon Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta (; 13 June 1808 – 17 October 1893) was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1 ...

- Marshal of France *

Raoul Magrin-Vernerey Raoul Charles Magrin-Vernerey, also known as Ralph Monclar (born 7 February 1892, died 3 June 1964) was a French général, officer and Inspection of the Foreign Legion, 2nd Inspector of the Foreign Legion who fought in World War I, World War I ...

Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under L ...

Peter Ortiz Pierre (Peter) Julien Ortiz OBE (July 5, 1913 – May 16, 1988) was a United States Marine Corps colonel who received two Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism as a major in World War II. He served in North Africa and Europe during the war, as a ...

, (Acting Lieutenant) * Henri, comte de Paris *

Zinovy Peshkov Zinovy Alekseyevich Peshkov (russian: Зиновий Алексеевич Пешков, french: Zinovi Pechkoff or ''Pechkov'', 16 October 1884 – 27 November 1966) was a Russian-born French general and diplomat. Early life Born as Zalman ...

Rémy Raffalli Barthélémy "Rémy" Raffalli (16 March 1913 – 10 September 1952) was a French Army major who fought in World War II and the First Indochina War. Early life and pre-war service He entered the Saint-Cyr Military School on 1 October 1933 as part ...

Peter I of Serbia Peter I ( sr-Cyr, Петар I Карађорђевић, Petar I Кarađorđević; – 16 August 1921) was the last king of Serbia, reigning from 15 June 1903 to 1 December 1918. On 1 December 1918, he became the first king of the Serbs, C ...

King of Serbia and SHS *

Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud (20 August 1798 – 29 September 1854) was a French soldier and Marshal of France. He served as French Minister of War until the Crimean War when he became Commander-in-chief of the army of the East. Biog ...

- Marshal of France *

Hélie de Saint Marc Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc or Hélie de Saint Marc, (11 February 1922 – 26 August 2013) was a senior member of the French resistance and a senior active officer of the French Army, having served in the French Foreign Legion, in particular at t ...

- former resistant deported to Buchenwald, participated in the Algiers putsch. *

Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné (9 February 1913 – 1 March 1948) was a French Army officer of the French Foreign Legion. He was born in Paris, and was killed in the line of duty close to Lagnia Bien Hoa ( Viêt Nam). Education He went to the ...

- Colonel dead on duty in 1948, Compagnon de la Libération *

Pierre Segrétain Pierre Côme André Segrétain (7 November 1909 – 8 October 1950) was a French infantry and List of French paratrooper units, airborne officer of the French Army who fought in World War II and the First Indochina War, primarily in French Foreign ...

Sisowath Monivong Sisowath Monivong ( km, ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ មុនីវង្ស, ;Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Langua ...

, 1908-9, then prince, later King of

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

* Josef Šnejdárek- French legionnaire, officer and later Czechoslovakian general *

Susan Travers Susan Mary Gillian Travers (23 September 1909 – 18 December 2003) was a British nurse and ambulance driver who served in the French Red Cross during the Second World War. She later became the only woman to be enlisted in the French Foreign Le ...

* James Waddell - New Zealander in the French Foreign Legion

Enlisted Enlisted may refer to: * Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or ...

Léon Ashkenazi Rav Yehuda Leon Ashkenazi (French spelling Léon Askénazi; Arabic: يهودا ليون اشكنازي; Hebrew: יהודא ליאון אשכנזי), also known as Manitou (June 21, 1922 in Oran, Algiers – October 21, 1996 in Jerusalem, Israe ...

, also known as ''Manitou'', Jewish philosopher *

Arthur Bluethenthal Arthur Bluethenthal, nicknamed "Bluey" (November 1, 1891 – June 5, 1918), was an All-American football player for Princeton University, who died in combat fighting for France in World War I. Early life The son of Leopold and Johanna Bluethentha ...

, All American football player and decorated World War I pilot *

Giuseppe Bottai Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini. Early life Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Ele ...

, Italian minister *

Eugene Bullard Eugene Jacques Bullard (born Eugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961) was one of the first black American military pilots, although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilo ...

, First African-American military pilot *

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European mod ...

, Swiss novelist and poet *

Max Deutsch Max Deutsch (17 November 1892 – 22 November 1982) was an Austrian-French composer, conductor, and academic teacher. He studied with Arnold Schönberg and was his assistant. Teaching at the Sorbonne and the École Normale de Musique de Paris, he ...

, Austrian composer *

François Faber François Faber (; 26 January 1887 – 9 May 1915) was a Luxembourgian racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands. He died in ...

, Luxembourgian cyclist and Tour de France winner *

Siegfried Freytag Siegfried Freytag (10 November 1919 – 2 June 2003) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and wing commander. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 102 aerial victories of which 49 victories were claimed over the Eastern Front. Among his v ...

, German fighter ace *

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

, French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist *

Ante Gotovina Ante Gotovina (born 12 October 1955) is a Croatian retired lieutenant general and former French senior corporal who served in the Croatian War for Independence. He is noted for his primary role in the 1995 Operation Storm. In 2001, the Intern ...

, former lieutenant general of the Croatian Army *

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...

, German-French painter * Erwin James (Monahan), British journalist and murderer *

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...

, German writer *

, Finnish army captain *

Norman Kerry Norman Kerry (born Norman Hussey Kaiser,"United States World War II Draft Registration Cards,registration for Norman Hussey Kaiser, Los Angeles, California, April 27, 1942 This document lists his full name as Norman Hussey Kaiser, noting the na ...

, U.S. actor *

Moise Kisling Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a surname, Moisè and M ...

, Polish painter *

Billy Meier Eduard Albert Meier, commonly nicknamed "Billy", is the founder of a UFO religion called the "Freie Interessengemeinschaft für Grenz- und Geisteswissenschaften und Ufologiestudien" (Free Community of Interests for the Border and Spiritual Scienc ...

, Swiss ufologist, photographer *

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler, (, ; ; hu, Kösztler Artúr; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was a Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler join ...

, Jewish-Hungarian polymath author *

Raoul Lufbery Gervais Raoul Victor Lufbery (March 14, 1885 – May 19, 1918) was a French and American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both the French Air Force, and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, ...

, French-American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I *

Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский, ukr, Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander. He was Marshal of the Sovi ...

, Soviet Marshal and Defence Minister. * Simon Murray, British businessman, adventurer, author and the oldest man to reach the South Pole unsupported *

Peter Julien Ortiz Pierre (Peter) Julien Ortiz OBE (July 5, 1913 – May 16, 1988) was a United States Marine Corps colonel who received two Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism as a major in World War II. He served in North African Campaign, North Africa and Euro ...

, American, later decorated USMC officer and OSS operative in Occupied France during WWII (Also served in the Legion as an acting Lieutenant) * Radomir Pavitchevitch *

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

,While controversy exists regarding his enlistment, the Foreign Legion backs his claim to have served, and a portrait of Porter hangs in the Foreign Legion’s museum at

Aubagne Aubagne (, ''Aubanha'' in Occitan language, Occitan according to the classic norm or ''Aubagno'' according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In ...

, France. American composer and songwriter * Alex Rowe, serving British national *

Akihiko Saito was a Japanese security specialist adviser who was taken hostage by the Jaish Ansar al-Sunna in Iraq in 2005. Saito's abduction and subsequent death came as a shock to the Japanese public who were surprised to find out that a former member of th ...

, Japanese hostage in Iraq who later died in captivity *Pal Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa, advertiser, father of French President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

Alan Seeger Alan Seeger (22 June 1888 – 4 July 1916) was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Charles Seeger, a noted American pacifist ...

, American poet *

Rolf Steiner Rolf Steiner (born 3 January 1933) is a German retired mercenary. He began his military career as a French Foreign Legion paratrooper and saw combat in Vietnam, Egypt, and Algeria. Steiner rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel commanding the ...

, Professional Soldier of Fortune in Biafra and Southern Sudan *

Milorad Ulemek Milorad Ulemek ( sr, Милорад Улемек; born 15 March 1965), also known as Milorad Luković () and "Legija" (), is a Serbian former commander of the Serbian police special unit, the Special Operations Unit (JSO) and a former paramilitary ...

, Serbian former militant *

Oswald Watt Walter Oswald Watt, (11 February 1878 – 21 May 1921) was an Australian aviator and businessman. The son of a Scottish-Australian merchant and politician, he was born in England and moved to Sydney when he was one year old, returnin ...

, Australian aviator *

William A. Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...

, American film director *

Mamady Doumbouya Mamady Doumbouya (N'Ko: , born 4 March 1980) is a Guinean military officer serving as the interim president of Guinea since 1 October 2021. Doumbouya led a coup d'état on 5 September 2021 that overthrew the previous president, Alpha Condé. He ...

, Guinean Colonel

Honorary

Dick Applegate Lieutenant General Richard Arthur David Applegate CB OBE (born 20 March 1955) is a former Quartermaster-General and Master-General of the Ordnance to the Army. He left the British Army in October 2010 and is now a Director of Eagle Strategic ...

Marcel Bigeard Marcel Bigeard (February 14, 1916 – June 18, 2010), personal radio call-sign "Bruno", was a French military officer and politician who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. He was one of the commanders in the Ba ...

Christian de Castries Christian Marie Ferdinand de la Croix de Castries (11 August 1902 – 29 July 1991) was the French commander at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Biography Christian de Castries was born into a distinguished military family, the House o ...

Geneviève de Galard Geneviève de Galard (born 13 April 1925) is a French nurse who was dubbed ''l'ange de Dien Bien Phu'' ("the Angel of Dien Bien Phu") during the French war in Indochina by the press in Hanoi, although in the camp she was known simply as Genevièv ...

– nurse at the

, honorary Légionnaire de 1ère classe. *

- Croatian General *

Pierre Langlais Pierre Charles Albert Marie Langlais (2 December 190917 July 1986http://www.dienbienphu.org/english/html/annuaire/langlais.htm) was a senior French military officer who fought in World War II and the First Indochina War. Hailing from the Brittany ...

Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (; August 22, 1934 – December 27, 2012) was a United States Army general. While serving as the commander of United States Central Command, he led all coalition forces in the Gulf War. Born in Trenton, Ne ...

Honorary Caporal (Corporal)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Foreign Legionnaires French Foreign Legion Special forces personnel