Paul Valéry (October 30, 1871 - July 20, 1945) was a French author and poet of the Symbolist school.

Living in Paris from 1892 onwards, he produced nothing for a twenty-year period, eventually breaking his silence in 1917 with La Jeune Parque. His interests were broad, including mathematics, philosophy, art and music, all of which are reflected in the corpus of his work, which also included prose and drama.