Jean-François Leriget de La Faye (1674, Vienne, Isère – 11 July 1731, Paris) was a French diplomat, wealthy landowner and art collector, poet,[1] and member of the Académie française for a single year.
At one time a musketeer, through social connections La Faye became a member of the court of Louis XIV.[1] His position was head of the royal cabinet, and private secretary and special adviser to the King on matters such as finding a wife for the young Louis XV. He also performed various diplomatic missions in London, Genoa and Utrecht, including involvement in negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht, and was also a director of the French East India Company.
Often classified first as a poet, La Faye's work was indeed approvingly quoted by his correspondent Voltaire and others, but his work tended towards light verse and he was not prolific. His most well-known work was likely the Ode to Worms, published in the Mercure de France.
