Delafond (1805-1861), veterinarian and pioneer of bacteriology born in Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye (1806-1861), mineralogist at France's Corps des mines from Toucy, of which he was also mayor from 1848 to 1860 (1813-1885), industrialist and developer of the Faïencerie de Gien, died in Briare Pierre Larousse (1817-1875), one of the foremost French lexicographers, born in Toucy Eugène Lefébure (1838-1908), Egyptologist who worked in the Valley of the Kings, born in Prunoy (1843-1931), Catholic priest and polymath scholar from Toucy Edgar Bérillon (1859-1948), psychiatrist and researcher of hypnosis, born in Saint-Fargeau (1869-1951), inventor of an early type of fractional distillation column, born in Parly (1885-1965), inventor and developer of an automatic transmission system that paved the way for modern gearboxes in a manufacturing facility in Bléneau Hubert Reeves (b. 1932), astrophysicist and popularizer of science, has lived part of his time in Malicorne for decades Literature and arts Henri Harpignies (1819-1916), French landscape painter of the Barbizon school, buried in Saint-Privé Colette (1873-1954), author who was born in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye and wrote acclaimed works about her native land Julienne Mathieu (1874-1943), early silent film actress from Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye Henri Nibelle (1883-1967), organist and composer born in Briare Marie Noël (1883-1967), poet who spent her vacations in Diges from 1928 and 1956 Robert Gall (1918-1990), author of the lyrics of songs for Edith Piaf and for his daughter France Gall, born in Saint-Fargeau (1919-1979), stoneware artist who promoted Puisaye pottery and renovated the Hubert Deschamps (1923-1998), cinema actor who was buried in Chêne-Arnoult Antoine de Vinck (1924-1992), Belgian ceramist and sculptor, lived in Treigny from 1984 and died there Jean d'Ormesson (1925-2017), author whose family owned the Château de Saint-Fargeau about which he wrote in his novel Au Plaisir de Dieu (1927-2012), journalist and writer, owned an estate in Saint-Vérain and was buried there Other (1855-1927), explorer of West Africa born in Saint-Fargeau (1869-1956), physician and organizer of France's Armenian community, lived and died in Bléneau Jules Guiraud (1876-1952), First Deputy Governor of the Bank of France from 1934 to 1937, owner of the Château de Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye from 1935 to 1947 (1881-1974), record-breaking cyclist born in Champcevrais (b. 1947), owner of the Château de Saint-Fargeau and promoter of the Guédelon Castle project Selected sights Notes Geography of France Geographical, historical and cultural regions of France