Jean-François de La Harpe, (born November 20, 1739, Paris, France—died February 11, 1803, Paris), critic and unsuccessful playwright who wrote severe and provocative criticisms and histories of French literature.
Orphaned at age 9 and imprisoned at 19 for allegedly writing a satire against his protectors at college, La Harpe became a bitter and caustic man. Of many uninspired plays he wrote, the best are perhaps his first tragedy, Warwick (1763), and Mélanie (1778), a pathetic drama never performed. He wrote criticism for and was editor of the Mercure de France, becoming respected, though often disliked, for his unsympathetic views. In 1786, after being coldly admitted to the French Academy, he began to lecture at the newly established Lycée. His lectures, published as the Cours de littérature, 16 vol. (1799–1805), show La Harpe at his best; he brought a clear and intelligent understanding to his treatment of 17th-century literature, as is also shown in his Commentaire sur Racine (1807). Although an extreme revolutionary, he became suspect and was imprisoned in April 1794. Shocked by the horrors around him, he became an ardent Roman Catholic and reactionary, attacking his former friends when he returned to the Lycée. His Oeuvres were published in 1821.