This is a list of prominent people from

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Artists

Serge Huo-Chao-Si Serge Huo-Chao-Si (born 1968 in La Réunion) is a contemporary artist and comic book creator. Early life Serge Huo-Chao-Si studied in Saint-Denis, Réunion and in Lille, and graduated in mechanical engineering from high school on his native island ...

, artist, designer, engineer

Musicians

* Ann O'aro *

Baster The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from white European men and black African women, usually of Khoisan origin, but occasionally also enslaved women from the Cape, ...

Gérald De Palmas Gérald Gardrinier (; born 14 October 1967 in Saint-Denis, Réunion), better known by his stage name Gérald de Palmas, is a French singer-songwriter. Biography Early life Gérald de Palmas was born in France. His father was a land surveyor ...

Olivier Ker Ourio Olivier Ker Ourio (born 1964 in Paris, from a family originally from Réunion) is a jazz musician of Breton ancestry known for playing Chromatic harmonica. He has worked with Bruce Arnold, Franck Amsallem, David Kikoski, and Annie Ebrel among othe ...

Ravan Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and Rakshasa, rakshasi Kaik ...

* Kamal Krishna Baral *Sabiah *

Tonton David Ray David Grammont (12 October 1967 in Paris – 16 February 2021 in Nancy, France), better known under his stage name Tonton David was a French Reggae singer born in Réunion. He was renowned for his raggamuffin performances, but used influenc ...

Ziskakan Ziskakan is a maloya Maloya is one of the two major music genres of Réunion, usually sung in Réunion Creole, and traditionally accompanied by percussion and a musical bow. Maloya is a new form that has origins in the music of African and Malag ...

, musical group

Poets

* Évariste de Forges de Parny *

Léon Dierx Léon Dierx (; March 31, 1838 – June 11, 1912) was a French poet born in Saint-Denis in 1838. He came to Paris to study at the Central School of Arts and Manufactures and subsequently settled there, taking up a post in the education office. He ...

Boris Gamaleya Boris Gamaleya (18 December 1930 St. Louis – 30 June 2019) was a Réunion poet, literary critic, linguist, folklorist, and social activist. He primarily wrote in French. Biography His father was Ukrainian a descendant of Cossack Hetman Petro ...

Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle''. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas ...

Politicians

Huguette Bello Huguette Bello (born 24 August 1950) is a French politician from Réunion. A former member of the Reunionese Communist Party (PCR), she split with the Communists in 2012 and formed her own party, For Réunion (French: ''Pour la Réunion'', P ...

, politician * Ibrahim Dindar, politician *

Jean-Claude Fruteau Jean-Claude Fruteau (6 June 1947 – 28 April 2022)

, politician *

Margie Sudre Margie Sudre (born 17 October 1943) is a Vietnamese-born Reunionese politician and Member of the European Parliament for France's "''Outre-mer''". Politic Before her election to the European Parliament ( UMP-"les républicains"), she held s ...

, politician *

Paul Vergès Paul Vergès (5 March 1925 – 11/12 November 2016) was a Réunionese politician. Born in Ubon Ratchathani, Siam to a French diplomat father and Vietnamese mother. Vergès founded the Communist Party of Réunion in 1960, a party which he led unt ...

, regional president * Roland Robert, politician

Writers

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...

, novelist *

* Yves Manglou *

Jean-Régis Ramsamy Jean-Régis Ramsamy was born in Saint-André in Reunion Island (France), on April 16, 1966. He now is a reporter, historian and a writer. He was an anchorman on RFO (lately :fr:Réunion 1re (télévision)). Background He is the son of ''Anto ...

Ambroise Vollard Ambroise Vollard (3 July 1866 – 21 July 1939) was a French art dealer who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is credited with providing exposure and emotio ...

Other notable people

Keiiti Aki was a Japanese-American professor of Geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and then at the University of Southern California (USC), seismologist, author and mentor. He and Paul G. Richards coauthored "Quantitative Sei ...

, professor, seismologist, author and mentor *

Edmond Albius Edmond Albius (1829 – 9 August 1880) was a horticulturalist from Réunion. Born into slavery, Albius became an important figure in the cultivation of vanilla. At the age of 12, he invented a technique for pollinating vanilla orchids quickly and ...

, horticulturalist *

Gilbert Aubry Gilbert Guillaume Marie-Jean Aubry (born 10 May 1942 in Saint-Louis, Réunion) is the Réunionnais bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion, as well as a poet and a singer. Aubry has served as the bishop of the diocese, ...

, Bishop of St-Denis *

Joseph Bédier Joseph Bédier (28 January 1864 – 29 August 1938) was a French writer and scholar and historian of medieval France. Biography Bédier was born in Paris, France, to Adolphe Bédier, a lawyer of Breton origin, and spent his childhood in Réunion. ...

, academic and member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

(born in Paris to Réunionnais parents, raised on the island) *

Jeremy Flores Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...

, professional surfer * Roland Garros, war hero * Yoël Armougom *

Georges Guibert Georges Guibert (1915 – 1997) was a French Roman Catholic missionary in Senegal and Réunion. He was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (; 29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a F ...

, Bishop of St-Denis * Pauline Hoarau, model *

Dimitri Payet Dimitri Payet (; born 29 March 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille. A set-piece specialist, known for his accurate, bending free kicks, he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, and is described a ...

, footballer *

Jacques Payet Jacques Payet (ジャック・パイエ, born August 24, 1957) is a practitioner of Yoshinkan-style aikido. He was the longest-serving non-Japanese ''uchi-deshi'' of Yoshinkan founder Gozo Shioda and is ranked in the Yoshinkan organization, with ...

, world-renowned aikido master *

Manu Payet Emmanuel "Manu" Payet (; born 22 December 1975) is a French comedian, actor, filmmaker and radio host. Filmography As actor Voice work Animated films *2006: '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'': French voice of Lone Gunslinger Vulture *2008: ''Kung ...

, comedian and radio host *

Florent Sinama Pongolle Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons i ...

, footballer *

Laurent Robert Pierre Laurent Robert (born 21 May 1975) is a French former professional footballer. He played as a left winger, and represented the France national team. Robert began his professional career in his native France before making a move to English ...

, footballer * Ludovic Ajorque * Bao Vang (Yves Claude Vinh-San), son of Emperor Duy Tân {{DEFAULTSORT:List of Reunionnais Reunionnaise