Édouard Jules Henri Pailleron (7 September 1834 – 19 April 1899) was a French poet and dramatist.

From a Parisian cultured "bourgeoise" family (upper-middle class), he earned first a doctorate in law, then became in succession a lawyer, notary clerk, soldier (a dragoon for two years), but irresistibly attracted by writing, he achieved his first success in 1860 with his one-act play Le Parasite, represented at the Odeon Theatre in Paris.

In 1862, he married Marie Buloz, the daughter of François Buloz, founder and director of the world-wide famous Revue des Deux Mondes, a monument of the Romantic literature era, where he soon became co-director.

He had a successful career with his comedies about social customs (comedies de moeurs). His first big hit was obtained at the Theatre du Gymnase, in 1868, with Le Monde où l'on s'amuse (the World where you're having fun), after which he became Director of the Comédie Française (where he was admitted in 1863 with his play Le Dernier quartier - the Last district).

His career culminated in 1881 with Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie (the World where you are bored), one of the most strikingly successful pieces of the period with a prodigiously long run (over 1000 performances at La Comedie Française in Paris, and great success in St Petersburg, London, etc.) The play ridiculed contemporary upper class society and was filled with transparent allusions to well-known people. This triumphal success earned him his election to the famous Académie française in 1882 (seat n°12). Neither of his two last works (La Souris in 1887, and Cabotins in 1894) achieved so great a success.