Francisco Xavier Alegre (November 12, 1729 – August 16, 1788) was a Jesuit scholar, translator, and historian of New Spain.

He studied philosophy in the Royal College of San Ignacio in Puebla, then canon and civil law in Mexico City and theology in Angelópolis.

He continued work on this history when he moved to the Royal College and Seminary of San Ildefonso in Mexico City.

This work was on the point of being published when the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish dominions, on July 25, 1767.

In exile, he established himself in Bologna, Italy, and there he rewrote his Historia from memory, in the form of a compendium.

His literary works included Alexandrias, a short epic poem about the conquest of Tyre by Alexander the Great (1775) and a Latin eclogue entitled Nysus.

He published Carta geográfica del hemisferio mexicano, which introduced some information about New Spain previously unknown to European scholars.

In 1889, Joaquín García Icazbaleta published his lyrical works under the title Opúsculos inéditos latinos y castellanos del P. Francisco Xavier Alegre (Unedited Latin and Spanish tracts of Father Francisco Xavier Alegre).