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Famous people · Viriat, Ain

Of the 12 famous people born in Viriat, an unusual share are athletes

The best known is the French tennis player Guillaume Rufin, with articles in 18 languages. Most were born since 1970: 9 of them. Jean Marie Mathias Debelay (1800) and Chloé Jacquet (2002) mark the two ends of the list. Fewer than a quarter of the 131 towns in Ain with famous people list more.

#1 best knownGuillaume RufinSports · born 1990
+8more
Born here
12
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Guillaume Rufin
18 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1800
Jean Marie Mathias Debelay
Youngest
2002
Chloé Jacquet
Most common field
Sports
10 people

What stands out about Viriat’s famous people

★ What stands out · Known for

What Viriat is known for

Viriat has 4.4× the usual share of athletes.

The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.

Through the years

When Viriat’s famous people were born

The 1990s saw the most births of any decade: 5.

Revolution to EmpireBelle ÉpoqueThe 20th centuryToday18001850190019502000Guillaume Rufin
SportsPolitics & LawFaith

Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.

The best known

Born in Viriat

The three best known are all athletes.

Guillaume Rufin#1
Sports

Guillaume Rufin

born 1990

French tennis player

18 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Geoffrey Soupe#2
Sports

Geoffrey Soupe

born 1988

French road racing cyclist

16 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
FD#3
Sports

Fabien Doubey

born 1993

French cyclist

11 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Everyone

Everyone else born in Viriat

Of the other 9, 7 are athletes.

Chloé Jacquet

Chloé Jacquet

born 2002

French rugby union player

PF

Paul Filliat

1899–1981

French cyclist (1899-1981)

Next door

Famous people from the towns next door

The longest list nearby is Bourg-en-Bresse’s, with 133.

Questions about famous people from Viriat

Who is the most famous person from Viriat?

Guillaume Rufin (French tennis player) is the best known by our measure: 18 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Geoffrey Soupe and Fabien Doubey.

How many famous people were born in Viriat?

12 people born in Viriat have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 13 people here; the rest aren’t listed because an article names somewhere else or no town, or a check couldn’t be completed.

What is Viriat known for?

Among its famous people, athletes: 10 of the 12. That is 83% of the town’s list, against 19% across French towns.

Who is the earliest-born famous person from Viriat?

Jean Marie Mathias Debelay, born in 1800. The youngest on the list was born in 2002.

Who counts as from Viriat?

People whose Wikidata birthplace is Viriat itself, matched by its INSEE code (a commune merged into it counts when the dates allow), whose French Wikipedia article agrees, and their English article too when they have one. A hospital or neighbourhood recorded without its commune isn’t matched. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.

Why is someone missing?

Their Wikidata birthplace may be a hospital, a neighbourhood or a wider area, another commune, or missing, or their articles may not name a birthplace. We only list people the sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.

From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations, how many Wikipedia and sister-site articles cover each person) and French and English Wikipedia (each person’s articles confirm the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are matched to the commune by INSEE code and its history of mergers (INSEE COG 2026). Ranked by the number of articles. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across French towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the license below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (9)

Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.