April 13, 1695

Jean de la Fontaine (July 8,  1621 to April 13, 1695) wrote stories based on originals which were sometimes far away in time and place. It was the manner of his telling which has secured his fame. His Fables are classics of French literature, and some of his most famous stories feature cats.

The author himself was an interesting sort. He and his wife lived apart and seemed the happier for it. Here are biographical bits about La Fontaine from The British Cyclopedia of Biography: Containing the Lives of Distinguished Men of All Ages and Countries, with Portraits, Residences, Autographs, and Monuments, (1837), edited by Charles Frederick Partington

...Though his disposition was exceedingly averse to confinement or restraint of any kind, yet, to oblige his parents, he consented to marry;-...[Later the] duchess of Bouillon, .... niece to Cardinal Mazarine, being banished to Chateau-Thierry, Fontaine was presented to her, and he followed...[the duchess] when she was recalled to Paris...[He] soon procured... a pension, which he enjoyed in great comfort without troubling himself at all about his wife, or, perhaps, even reflecting that he had one... [Later] he was admitted as a gentleman usher to Henrietta of England; but the death of this princess put an end to all his court hopes. After this, among other favours from the most illustrious persons in the kingdom, the generous and witty Madame de la Sabliere furnished him with an apartment and all necessaries in her house; [Madame de la Sabliere] ... one day, ....declared that she then kept but three animals in her house, which were her dog, her cat, and La Fontaine.....