Famous people named Leclerc

On the track

Today's best-known Leclerc is Charles Leclerc (born 1997), the Monégasque Formula One driver for Ferrari. His younger brother Arthur Leclerc (born 2000) also races. France's Antoine Leclerc (born 1981) competed in sports cars.

Soldiers, scholars and an éminence grise

• Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902–1947), the general whose 2nd Armoured Division liberated Paris in August 1944. Leclerc was his wartime nom de guerre, adopted to protect his family.
• Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788), naturalist and author of the vast Histoire naturelle.
• François Leclerc du Tremblay (1577–1638), the Capuchin friar known as Père Joseph, Richelieu's agent and the original éminence grise.
• Alix Le Clerc (1576–1622), founder of the Canonesses of Saint Augustine of the Congregation of Notre-Dame.
• François Le Clerc (died 1563), a privateer who raided Spanish ports in the Caribbean.

Mountains, ballparks and scholarship

The Canadian alpinist Marc-André Leclerc (1992–2018) was famous for bold solo climbs and is the subject of the film The Alpinist. In baseball, Dominican pitcher José Leclerc (born 1993) won a World Series with the Texas Rangers in 2023. Earlier, the Swiss physician Daniel Le Clerc (1652–1728) wrote one of the first histories of medicine, and Joseph-Victor Leclerc (1789–1865) was a French classical scholar and dean of the Paris faculty of letters.

Music, film and business

• Félix Leclerc (1914–1988), the Quebec singer-songwriter and poet who opened the way for French-Canadian chanson.
• Ginette Leclerc (1912–1992), French film actress.
• Fud Leclerc (1924–2010), Belgian singer who represented Belgium four times at Eurovision.
• Édouard Leclerc (1926–2012), founder of the E.Leclerc supermarket chain.
• Marc-André Leclerc (1992–2018), Canadian alpinist.

The list shows the two homes of the name, France and Quebec, and the fact that Leclercs are many families, not one. Learn the meaning on our Leclerc coat of arms page, or see how to research your branch in Leclerc family history and genealogy.