François Mocquard (27 October 1834 – 19 March 1917) was a French herpetologist born in Leffond, Haute-Saône. In 1860 he was named préparateur du physique after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree at the Faculty of Besançon. Subsequently, he earned degrees in physical sciences (1862), mathematical sciences (1865) and medicine (1873). Despite being middle-aged, he made a career change, and began studying natural sciences in the laboratory of Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835-1900) at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. In 1884 he earned his doctorate of sciences with a thesis on the structure of the stomach in crustaceans, afterwards working as an assistant in the ichthyology and herpetology department at the museum.