Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) was one of France’s most celebrated poets, best known for his Fables, short verse narratives that use animals and fictional characters to satirize human behavior, politics, social ambition, and moral weakness. He was born in Château-Thierry, in northeastern France, to a family connected with local forestry administration. He studied in Paris, briefly considered a religious vocation, and later trained in law, though he showed little interest in a conventional professional career. In 1647 he married Marie Héricart, but the marriage was unhappy and produced one son. La Fontaine’s literary career developed through patronage from wealthy and influential figures, including Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances under Louis XIV, and later several aristocratic women who supported him. His early work included poems, plays, tales, and adaptations of classical authors. His Contes et nouvelles, often witty and sexually frank verse stories inspired by Boccaccio and other European traditions, brought him both popularity and criticism. His lasting achievement was the twelve books of Fables, published between 1668 and 1694. Drawing heavily on Aesop, Phaedrus, Indian animal tales, and classical literature, La Fontaine transformed traditional moral anecdotes into elegant, flexible French verse. His animals speak and act like members of seventeenth-century French society: vain courtiers, corrupt officials, proud nobles, clever servants, and vulnerable ordinary people. Although many fables end with explicit morals, their lessons are often ironic, skeptical, and attentive to the inequalities of power. La Fontaine was elected to the French Academy in 1684, despite opposition arising from the perceived immorality of his tales. In his final years, he underwent a religious reconciliation and distanced himself from some of his earlier writings. He died in Paris in 1695. His Fables remain central to French education and literature, admired for their clarity, musicality, psychological insight, and enduring political intelligence.
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