public figure vs personage

public figure and personage both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
public figure	Yes	No	No	No
personage	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, personage is a hypernym of public figure; that is, personage is a word with a broader meaning than public figure:

public figure: a well-known or notable person
personage: a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events

Other hypernyms of public figure include important person, influential person.

public figure (noun)	personage (noun)
a well-known or notable person	another word for person; a person not meriting identification
	a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events