Claude Farrère (Lyon, April 27, 1876 – Paris, June 21, 1957) was a prolific French author of novels set in such exotic locations as Istanbul, Saigon, and Nagasaki. One of his novels, Les civilisés (The Civilized Ones) won the Prix Goncourt in 1905. He was elected for a chair at the Académie Française in March 28, 1935.

Perplexingly, his works have fallen out of favor with much of the French-speaking world. To date, fewer than five websites on the World Wide Web offer his works, and fewer than 100 websites give him even cursory mention.

His Works:

• Fumée d'opium (1904, Black Opium)
• Les civilisés (1905, The Civilized Ones)
• L'homme qui assassina (1907, The Man Who Killed)
• La dernière déesse (1920, The Last Goddess)
• La bataille (1909, The Battle)
• Thomas l'Agnelet (1913, Thomas the Lambkin)
• La maison des hommes vivants (1911, The House of Secrets)
• Une jeune fille voyagea. . . (1925, A Girl Traveled . . .)
• Les hommes nouveaux (1922, New Men)

Perhaps the most popular mention of Farrère today is within the perfume "Mitsouko" by the long-lived perfumer Guerlain . Mitsouko was a Japanese woman whose name meant "mystery" and had an ill-fated love affair with an English officer during the opening of Japan to the West. The story of Mitsouko and her officer was contained within the novel La Bataille.