Alain-René Lesage (May 8, 1668 – November 17, 1747) was a French novelist and playwright born at Sarzeau , Brittany.

His masterpiece, written from 1715-1735, is Gil Blas de Santillane, a Spanish story, noted for its honest depictions of lowlife Spaniards, inspired by Vicente Espinel's Vida del escudero Marcos de Obregón .

He was an orphan at the age of 14 and put in the care of his uncle. He was sent to the Jesuit college at Vannes to be educated. He studied law in Paris, but chose writing as a vocation.

He died in Boulogne.

Quotations:

• "Pride and conceit were the original sins of man."
• "Facts are stubborn things."

Novels

• Le Diable boiteux, 1707.
• Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, (Livres I-VI), 1715. -
• Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, (Livres VII-IX), 1724. -
• Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, (Livres X-XII), 1735. -
• Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, 1747. -
• Le Bachelier de Salamanque, 1736.