François Pétis de la Croix (1653–1713) was a French orientalist. He was born in Paris, the son of the Arabic interpreter of the French court and author, also named François Pétis de la Croix (1622-1695) and inherited this office at his father's death, afterwards transmitting it to his own son, Alexandre Louis Marie, who also became a notable orientalist. At an early age, François was sent by Colbert to the East; during the ten years he spent in Syria, Persia and Turkey he learned Arabic, Persian and Turkish and collected materials which he would use in future writings.