What is Jean de La Fontaine?
[[File:Jean de La Fontaine.jpg|thumb|right|200px|{{Center|Jean de La Fontaine}}]] '''Jean de La Fontaine''' ({{IPA-fr|ʒɑ̃ də la fɔ̃tɛn|IPA}}; 8 July 1621 – 13 April 1695)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jean-delafontaine.com/ |title=Jean de La Fontaine |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Art Directory |accessdate=23 April 2015}}</ref> was the first of the [[France|French]] [[Fable|fabulist]].<ref>George Moir Bussey; J J Grandville, ''Fables: Original and Selected'' (London: C. Tilt, 1839), p. xvi</ref> He was one of the most widely read French [[poet]]s of the [[17th century]]. He is known for his [[fable]]s. These provided a model for later [[fable|fabulists]] across [[Europe]]. They were also an [[example]] for numerous [[wikt:alternative|alternative]] [[wikt:version|version]]s in France and in [[French language|French regional languages]]. According to [[Flaubert]], he was the only French poet to [[wikt:understand|understand]] and [[wikt:master|master]] the [[wikt:subtle|subtle]]ties of the [[French language]] before [[Victor Hugo]]. A set of [[postage stamp]]s [[Wikt:celebrating|celebrating]] La Fontaine and the ''Fables'' was issued by France in 1995. == References == {{reflist}} {{commons}} {{bio-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:La Fontaine, Jean De}} [[Category:1621 births]] [[Category:1695 deaths]] [[Category:French poets]]