Charles Perrault

Born in Paris on January 12, 1628, Charles Perrault became an important figure in French literary and cultural life under Louis XIV. He was a member of the Académie Française and took part in the famous debate between the "Ancients" and the "Moderns," arguing that contemporary writers could equal or surpass the achievements of the classical past.

Perrault is remembered above all for Histoires ou contes du temps passé (1697), the collection that includes tales now known around the world, such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, and Bluebeard. He did not invent all of these stories from nothing; instead, he reshaped older traditional material into elegant literary fairy tales that proved enormously influential.

He died in Paris on May 16, 1703, but his stories have outlived their century by a wide margin. For many readers, Perrault remains one of the key figures who brought the fairy tale into literary history and helped define the versions of these tales that later generations would know best.