Joseph Rudyard Kipling (/ˈrʌdjərd/ RUD-yərd; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the Jungle Book duology (The Jungle Book, 1894; The Second Jungle Book, 1895), Kim (1901), the Just So Stories (1902) and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is seen as an innovator in the art of the short story. His children's books are classics; one critic noted "a versatile and luminous narrative gift". Kipling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was among the United Kingdom's most popular writers. Henry James said "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius, as distinct from fine intelligence, that I have ever known." In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, as the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and at 41, its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and several times for a knighthood, but declined both. Following his death in 1936, his ashes were interred at Poets' Corner, part of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey. Kipling's subsequent reputation has changed with the political and social climate of the age. The contrasting views of him continued for much of the 20th century. Literary critic Douglas Kerr wrote: "[Kipling] is still an author who can inspire passionate disagreement and his place in literary and cultural history is far from settled. But as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognised as an incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with."

Rudyard Kipling, né le 30 décembre 1865 à Malabar Hill (Bombay) en Inde britannique et mort le 18 janvier 1936 à Londres, est un écrivain britannique. Ses ouvrages pour la jeunesse connaissent dès leur parution un succès qui ne s'est jamais démenti, notamment Le Livre de la jungle (1894), Le Second Livre de la jungle (1895), Histoires comme ça (1902), Puck, lutin de la colline (1906). Il est également l'auteur du roman Kim (1901), de poèmes dont parmi les plus célèbres Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890) et Tu seras un homme, mon fils (1910) et de nouvelles, dont L'Homme qui voulut être roi (1888) et le recueil Simples contes des collines (1888). Il est considéré comme un « innovateur dans l'art de la nouvelle », un précurseur de la science-fiction et l'un des plus grands auteurs de la littérature de jeunesse. Son œuvre manifeste un talent pour la narration qui s'est exprimé dans des formes variées. De la fin du XIXe siècle au milieu du XXe siècle, Rudyard Kipling reste l'un des auteurs les plus populaires de la langue anglaise. Cependant, il est souvent considéré comme un « prophète de l'impérialisme britannique », selon l'expression de George Orwell. La controverse au sujet des préjugés et du militarisme qui seraient présents dans son œuvre a traversé tout le XXe siècle. En 1908, il est le premier auteur de langue anglaise à recevoir le prix Nobel de littérature, et le plus jeune à l'avoir reçu (à 42 ans). Par la suite, il refuse d'être anobli.