Jean de La Fontaine

Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) was a French poet of the classical age, remembered above all for his Fables, published in twelve books between 1668 and 1694. Drawing on Aesop and older Eastern collections, he turned moral tales into elegant verse that quietly satirized human folly and the manners of Louis XIV's court. He was elected to the Académie française in 1684 and remains among the most widely quoted writers in the French language.