Father Goriot is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799—1850), included in the Scènes de la vie Parisienne section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine. Set in Paris in 1819, it follows the intertwined lives of three characters: the elderly doting Goriot; a mysterious criminal-in-hiding named Vautrin; and a naive law student named Eugène de Rastignac. The novel is noted as an example of his realist style, using minute details to create character and subtext.

The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought profound changes to French society; the struggle by individuals to secure a higher social status is a major theme in the book. The city of Paris also impresses itself on the characters—especially young Rastignac, who grew up in the provinces of southern France. Balzac analyzes, through Goriot and others, the nature of family and marriage, providing a pessimistic view of these institutions.

Honoré de Balzac (20 May 1799 —18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. He is generally regarded as a founding-father of realism in European fiction. His large output of works, collectively entitled The Human Comedy (La Comidie Humaine), consists of 95 finished works (stories, novels and essays) and 48 unfinished works, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. His masterpieces: Eugenie Grandet and Father Goriot.