Jean-Dominique Bauby (; 23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997) was a well-known French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine ELLE.
On 8 December 1995 at the age of 43, Bauby suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up twenty days later, he found he was entirely speechless; he could only blink his left eyelid. Called locked-in syndrome, this is a condition wherein the mental faculties remain intact but most of the body is paralyzed. In Bauby's case his mouth, arms, and legs were paralyzed, and he lost 60 pounds (27 kg) in the first 20 weeks after his stroke. He had two children with Sylvie de la Rochefoucauld, a son named Theophile and a daughter named Celeste.