This is a list of colonial and departmental heads of Réunion. Réunion is a French overseas department and region with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, approximately 200 km southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island. The chief of state is the French President, who is represented by a Prefect. The president of the General Council acts as head of the government. Elections held in Réunion include the French presidential vote. A prefect is appointed by the president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior. The presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by members of those councils.
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| Term | Incumbent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| French Suzerainty | |||
| Annexed for France, named Île Bourbon; under the French East India Company rule | |||
| December 1649 to 5 August 1665 | No central administration | ||
| 5 August 1665 to 8 May 1671 | Étienne Regnault, Commandant | ||
| 11 May 1671 to 22 November 1674 | Jacques de La Heure dit La Hure, Commandant | ||
| 22 November 1674 to 1 December 1674 | Jacob de la Haye, de facto Commandant | ||
| French colony; under the French East India Company rule | |||
| 1 December 1674 to 17 June 1678 | Henry Esse d'Orgeret, Commandant | ||
| 18 June 1678 to January 1680 | Germain de Fleurimont Moulinier, Commandant | ||
| January 1680 to 30 November 1686 | F. Bernardin de Quimper, Commandant | ||
| 2 December 1686 to 9 December 1689 | Jean-Baptiste Drouillard, Commandant | ||
| 11 December 1689 to 26 November 1690 | Henry Habert de Vauboulon, Commandant | ||
| 4 March 1691 to 29 April 1694 | Michel Firélin, Commandant | ||
| 1694 | Prades + Lemayeur, acting Commandants | ||
| May 1694 to 2 July 1696 | Directory of Saint Paul | ||
| Athanase Touchard, President; leader "naturel de l'île" | |||
| Louis Caron | |||
| René Hoarau | |||
| François Mussard | |||
| François Mussard | |||
| Antoine Payet | |||
| 1 August 1696 to 6 June 1698 | Joseph Bastide, Commandant | ||
| 21 October 1699 to 13 May 1701 | Jacques de La Cour de La Saulais, Commandant | ||
| 12 June 1701 to 5 March 1709 | Jean-Baptiste de Villers, Commandant | ||
| 7 March 1709 to 24 March 1710 | François Michel Des Bordes, sieur de Charanville, Commandant | ||
| 22 April 1710 to 14 November 1715 | Pierre Antoine Parat de Chaillenest, Commandant | ||
| 4 December 1715 to 14 February 1718 | Henri de Justamond, Commandant | ||
| 6 September 1718 to 22 August 1723 | Joseph Beauvollier de Courchant, Commandant | ||
| 23 August 1723 to 1 December 1725 | Antoine Labbé dit Desforges-Boucher, Commandant | ||
| 2 December 1725 to 28 May 1727 | Hélie Dioré de Périgny, Commandant | ||
| 21 July 1727 to 11 July 1735 | Pierre Benoît Dumas, Commandant | ||
| 12 July 1735 to 1 October 1735 | Bertrand François Mahé, comte de La Bourdonnais, Commandant | ||
| Part of the French Mascarene Islands colony; under French East India Company rule | |||
| 2 October 1735 to 30 September 1739 | Charles L'Emery Dumont, Commandant | ||
| 11 November 1739 to 12 December 1743 | Pierre-André d'Héguerty, Commandant | ||
| 13 December 1743 to 8 May 1745 | Didier de Saint-Martin, Commandant | 1st time | |
| 15 May 1745 to 31 October 1745 | Jean-Baptiste Azéma, Commandant | ||
| 1 November 1745 to 18 December 1745 | Didier de Saint-Martin, Commandant | 2nd time | |
| Separate colony; under French East India Company rule | |||
| 29 December 1745 to 28 March 1747 | Gérard Gaspard de Ballade, Governor | 1st time | |
| 14 April 1747 to 11 November 1748 | Didier de Saint-Martin, Governor | 3rd time | |
| 22 November 1748 to 17 March 1749 | Gérard Gaspard de Ballade, Governor | 2nd time | |
| 24 May 1749 to 23 August 1749 | Antoine Marie Desforges-Boucher, Governor | 1st time | |
| 6 September 1749 to 16 October 1750 | Joseph Brénier, Governor | 1st time | |
| 16 October 1750 to 14 December 1752 | Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, Governor | 1st time | |
| 14 December 1752 to 14 January 1756 | Joseph Brénier, Governor | 2nd time | |
| 12 July 1757 to 15 October 1757 | Antoine Marie Desforges-Boucher, Governor | 2nd time | |
| 19 October 1757 to 6 September 1763 | Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, Governor | 2nd time | |
| 7 September 1763 to 14 October 1763 | Jean Sentuary, Governor | ||
| 5 November 1763 to 1764 | François Jacques Bertin d'Avesnes, Governor | ||
| French crown colony | |||
| 1764 to 30 March 1767 | François Jacques Bertin d'Avesnes, Governor | ||
| 31 March 1767 to 4 November 1767 | Martin Adrien Bellier, Governor | ||
| 4 November 1767 to 4 October 1773 | Guillaume Léonard de Bellecombe, Governor | ||
| 15 December 1773 to 15 October 1776 | Jean Guillaume Steinauer, Governor | ||
| 26 October 1776 to 30 April 1779 | François de Souillac, Governor | ||
| 25 May 1779 to 22 August 1781 | Joseph Murinay, comte de Saint-Maurice, Governor | ||
| 25 August 1781 to 21 April 1785 | André Joseph François Chalvet, baron de Souville, Governor | ||
| 2 May 1785 to 15 February 1788 | Claude Élie Dioré de Périgny, Governor | ||
| 21 February 1788 to 15 August 1790 | David Charpentier de Cossigny, Governor | ||
| 8 September 1790 to 18 October 1792 | Dominique Prosper de Chermont, Governor | ||
| 19 October 1792 to 19 March 1793 | Jean-Baptiste Vigoureux du Plessis, Governor | ||
| Île Bourbon renamed Île de la Réunion (sometimes called Réunion des Patriotes) | |||
| 19 March 1793 to 11 April 1794 | Jean-Baptiste Vigoureux du Plessis, Governor | ||
| 12 April 1794 to 1 November 1795 | Pierre Alexandre Roubaud, Governor | ||
| 2 November 1795 to 3 February 1803 | Philippe Antoine Jacob de Cordemoy, Governor | ||
| Part of the French colony of Indes-Orientales | |||
| 3 February 1803 to 7 October 1803 | Philippe Antoine Jacob de Cordemoy, Governor | ||
| 10 November 1803 to 31 December 1805 | François Louis Magallon, comte de la Morlière, Governor | ||
| 9 January 1806 to 15 August 1806 | Nicolas Ernault de Regnac des Brulys, Governor | ||
| Île de la Réunion renamed Île Bonaparte | |||
| 15 August 1806 to 25 September 1809 | Nicolas Ernault de Regnac des Brulys, Governor | ||
| 9 October 1809 to 8 July 1810 | Jean-Chrysostôme Bruneteau de Sainte-Suzanne, Governor | ||
| Occupation of Île Bonaparte by United Kingdom | |||
| 9 July 1810 to 7 August 1810 | Robert Townsend Farquhar, Governor | 1st time | |
| Île Bonaparte renamed Île Bourbon | |||
| 7 August 1810 to 20 December 1810 | Robert Townsend Farquhar, Governor | 1st time | |
| 20 December 1810 to 26 April 1811 | Henry Sheehy Keating, Governor | 1st time | |
| 26 April 1811 to 10 July 1811 | Robert Townsend Farquhar, Governor | 2nd time | |
| 10 July 1811 to 5 April 1815 | Henry Sheehy Keating, Governor | 2nd time | |
| French Suzerainty | |||
| 6 April 1815 to 30 June 1817 | Athanase Hyacinthe Bouvet de Lozier, Governor | ||
| 1 July 1817 to 9 September 1818 | Hilaire Urbain Lafitte de Courteil, Governor | ||
| 13 September 1818 to 14 February 1821 | Pierre Bernard de Milius, Governor | ||
| 15 February 1821 to 14 October 1826 | Louis Henri de Saulces de Freycinet, Governor | ||
| 20 October 1826 to 4 July 1830 | Achille Guy Marie de Penfentenio, comte de Cheffontaines, Governor | ||
| 5 July 1830 to 7 November 1832 | Étienne-Henri Mengin du Valdailly, Governor | ||
| 8 November 1832 to 4 May 1838 | Jacques Philippe Cuvillier, Governor | ||
| 5 May 1838 to 14 October 1841 | Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell, Governor | ||
| 15 October 1841 to 4 June 1846 | Charles Louis Joseph Bazoche, Governor | ||
| 5 June 1846 to 6 September 1848 | Emmanuel François Joseph Graeb, Governor | ||
| Île Bourbon renamed Réunion | |||
| 6 September 1848 to 13 October 1848 | Emmanuel François Joseph Graeb, Governor | ||
| 13 October 1848 to 7 March 1850 | Joseph Napoléon Sarda-Garriga, Governor | ||
| 9 March 1850 to 14 February 1851 | Marie-Bon-Ézéchial Barolet de Puligny, Governor | ||
| 15 February 1851 to 8 August 1852 | Louis Isaac Pierre Hilaire Doret, Governor | ||
| 8 August 1852 to 8 January 1858 | Louis Henri Hubert Delisle, Governor | ||
| 11 January 1858 to 27 March 1858 | Lefevre, Governor | ||
| 28 March 1858 to 19 September 1864 | Rodolphe Augustin, baron Darricau, Governor | ||
| 4 January 1865 to 23 September 1869 | Marie Jules Dupré, Governor | ||
| 27 September 1869 to 18 September 1875 | Louis Hippolyte de Lormel, Governor | ||
| 19 November 1875 to 29 April 1879 | Pierre Aristide Faron, Governor | ||
| 6 May 1879 to 23 March 1886 | Pierre Étienne Cuinier, Governor | ||
| 23 March 1886 to 11 October 1886 | Jean Baptiste Antoine Lougnon, interim Governor | 1st time | |
| 11 October 1886 to 16 December 1887 | Étienne Antoine Guillaume Richaud, Governor | ||
| 16 December 1887 to 21 August 1888 | Jean Baptiste Antoine Lougnon, Governor | 2nd time | |
| 22 August 1888 to 10 July 1893 | Louis Evenor Édouard Manès, Governor | ||
| 11 July 1893 to 21 June 1895 | Henri Eloi Danel, Governor | ||
| 22 June 1895 to 12 August 1895 | Henri Charles Roberdeau, Governor | ||
| 13 August 1895 to 19 May 1896 | Benedict Jacob de Cordemoy, Governor | ||
| 19 May 1896 to 30 October 1900 | Laurent Marie Émile Beauchamp, Governor | ||
| 30 October 1900 to 19 February 1901 | Charles Albert Madre, Governor | ||
| 19 February 1901 to 29 July 1905 | Paul Samary, Governor | ||
| 29 July 1905 to 30 August 1906 | Fernand Theron, Governor | ||
| 30 August 1906 to 7 November 1906 | Marius Verignon, Governor | ||
| 8 November 1906 to 27 December 1907 | Adrien Jules Jean Bonhoure, Governor | ||
| 1 January 1908 to 19 March 1908 | Henri Cor, Governor | ||
| 19 March 1908 to 18 January 1910 | Camille Lucien Xavier Guy, Governor | ||
| 18 January 1910 to 17 September 1910 | Philippe Émile Jullien, Governor | ||
| 18 September 1910 to 28 July 1912 | François Pierre Rodier, Governor | ||
| 30 August 1912 to 22 November 1913 | Hubert Auguste Garbit, Governor | ||
| 23 November 1913 to 1 June 1919 | Pierre Louis Alfred Duprat, Governor | ||
| 2 June 1919 to 26 July 1920 | Victor Jean Brochard, Governor | ||
| 27 July 1920 to 5 September 1922 | Frédéric Estèbe, Governor | ||
| 6 September 1922 to 21 August 1923 | Henri Cleret de Langavant, Governor | ||
| 22 August 1923 to 2 October 1924 | Maurice Pierre Lapalud, Governor | ||
| 31 March 1925 to 28 November 1932 | Jules Vincent Repiquet, Governor | ||
| 29 November 1932 to 13 June 1934 | Louis Fabre, Governor | ||
| 14 June 1934 to 29 May 1936 | Alphonse Paul Albert Choteau, Governor | ||
| 29 May 1936 to 16 August 1936 | Charles Victor Allard, interim Governor | ||
| 17 August 1936 to 27 October 1938 | Léon Hippolyte Truitard, Governor | ||
| 28 October 1938 to 29 December 1939 | Joseph Urbain Court, Governor | ||
| 30 December 1939 to 1 December 1942 | Pierre Émile Aubert, Governor | Deposed after the liberation of Réunion by the Free French forces | |
| 1 December 1942 to 19 March 1946 | Jean Charles André Capagorry, Governor | ||
| French overseas département | |||
| 19 March 1946 to 17 July 1947 | Jean Charles André Capagorry, Governor | ||
| 16 August 1947 to 1 June 1950 | Paul Demange, Prefect | ||
| 1 June 1950 to 4 July 1952 | Roland Luc Béchoff, Prefect | ||
| 4 July 1952 to 14 May 1956 | Pierre Philip, Prefect | ||
| 12 June 1956 to 1 March 1963 | Jean François Pierre Perreau-Pradier, Prefect | ||
| 1 March 1963 to 1 September 1966 | Alfred Diefenbacher, Prefect | ||
| 11 September 1966 to 22 October 1969 | Jean Vaudeville, Prefect | ||
| 29 October 1969 to 21 August 1972 | Paul Cousseran, Prefect | ||
| 28 August 1972 to 14 April 1975 | Claude Edmond Vieillescazes, Prefect | ||
| 14 April 1975 to 12 May 1977 | Robert Lamy, Prefect | ||
| 16 May 1977 to 22 May 1980 | Bernard Landouzy, Prefect | ||
| 29 May 1980 to 1 August 1981 | Jacques Seval, Prefect | ||
| 1 August 1981 to 10 May 1982 | Michel Francis Levallois, Prefect | ||
| 10 May 1982 to 15 March 1984 | Michel Francis Levallois, Commissioner of the Republic | ||
| 26 March 1984 to 9 April 1986 | Michel Blangy, Commissioner of the Republic | ||
| 9 April 1986 to 25 April 1986 | Jean-Marc Rebière, acting Commissioner of the Republic | ||
| 25 April 1986 to 24 February 1988 | Jean Anciaux, Commissioner of the Republic | ||
| 24 February 1988 to 11 September 1989 | Jean Anciaux, Prefect | ||
| 11 September 1989 to 18 July 1991 | Daniel Constantin, Prefect | ||
| 18 July 1991 to December 1992 | Jacques Dewatre, Prefect | ||
| 2 December 1992 to 2 January 1995 | Hubert Fournier, Prefect | ||
| 9 January 1995 to 27 November 1995 | Pierre Steinmetz, Prefect | ||
| 27 November 1995 to 29 November 1995 | Yves Dassonville, acting Prefect | 1st time | |
| 29 November 1995 to 15 July 1998 | Robert Pommies, Prefect | ||
| 15 July 1998 to 5 August 1998 | Yves Dassonville, acting Prefect | 2nd time | |
| 5 August 1998 to 2 July 2001 | Jean Daubigny, Prefect | ||
| 2 July 2001 to 31 July 2001 | Vincent Bouvier, acting Prefect | ||
| 31 July 2001 to 28 March 2003 | Gonthier Friederici, Prefect | ||
| French overseas region | |||
| 28 March 2003 to 13 August 2004 | Gonthier Friederici, Prefect | ||
| 13 August 2004 to 16 August 2004 | Franck-Olivier Lachaud, acting Prefect | 1st time | |
| 16 August 2004 to 4 June 2005 | Dominique Vian, Prefect | ||
| 4 June 2005 to 16 July 2005 | Franck-Olivier Lachaud, acting Prefect | 2nd time | |
| 16 July 2005 to 22 August 2006 | , Prefect | ||
| 22 August 2006 to 28 August 2006 | Franck-Olivier Lachaud, acting Prefect | 3rd time | |
| 28 August 2006 to 20 January 2010 | Pierre-Henry Maccioni, Prefect | Nominated Prefect of Val-d’Oise | |
| 20 January 2010 to 27 August 2012 | , Prefect | Former Prefect of Saône-et-Loire | |
| 27 August 2012 to 2 September 2014 | Jean-Luc Marx, Prefect | Former Prefect of Allier | |
| 2 September 2014 to 24 May 2017 | Dominique Sorain, Prefect | Former Prefect of Eure | |
| 24 May 2017 to 17 June 2019 | Amaury de Saint-Quentin, Prefect | Former Prefect of Guadeloupe | |
| 17 June 2019 to present | Jacques Billant, Prefect | Former Prefect of Guadeloupe | |