Jean de la Fontaine
Jul 08, 1621 - Apr 13, 1695 (73 years old) in Château-Thierry, Aisne, France
The most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional languages. -Wikipedia entry