Perrault, Charles (1628–1703)

French writer who published a collection of fairy tales, Contes de ma mère l'oye/Mother Goose's Fairy Tales (1697). These are based on traditional stories and include ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Blue Beard’, ‘Puss in Boots’, and ‘Cinderella’.

Perrault was a member of the French Academy and a champion of what was then modern in literature against the classical style. He set out these views in Le Parallèle des anciens et des modernes 1688–97.

He retold French folk tales in verse (Grisélidis, avec le conte de Peau d'Ane et celui des souhaits ridicules 1694) before writing the prose versions for which he is now known.