Who composed the music for France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise”?

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed the music for France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”

Rouget de Lisle wrote the song in Strasbourg during the French Revolution, in April 1792. It was initially titled “Chant de guerre pour l’armée du Rhin,” meaning “War Song for the Army of the Rhine.”

Volunteers from Marseille later sang it while marching to Paris, giving the song its better-known name. Its energetic revolutionary message helped it become strongly associated with the French Republic.

A common mix-up is identifying the anthem as a work by Hector Berlioz. Berlioz did arrange and orchestrate “La Marseillaise” later, but Rouget de Lisle is credited with writing the original music and lyrics. France officially adopted it as its national anthem in 1795, although its official status changed during later political regimes.