Claude-François Baudez (3 December 1932 – 13 July 2013) was a French Mayanist, archaeologist and iconologist.

He was honorary director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, a specialist on the rituals and beliefs of Mesoamerica, particularly of the Maya civilisation.

[1] In his early years, Claude-François Baudez studied the little-known remains of Mesoamerican civilisations in Costa Rica and Honduras.

He was co-director of French excavations at the Toniná archaeological site in Mexico, and led the Copán exploration and restoration programme, while studying its sculpture.

[3] He is co-author of Le monde précolombien : Les Mayas, published in the collection “L’Univers des Formes” at Éditions Gallimard; and Les cités perdues des Mayas, a richly illustrated pocket book from the collection “Découvertes Gallimard”, which has been translated into twelve languages, including English.