Henry Harrisse (May 28, 1829 – May 13, 1910) was a writer, lawyer, art critic, and American historian who authored books on the discovery of America and geographic representations of the New World.

He began his academic career at the University of North Carolina, where he taught writing, philosophy, and law, though he was later released from his position due to his support of abolitionism.

According to his biographer Henri Cordier, his early writings are devoted to Hippolyte Taine[5] and Renan, and the analysis of the metaphysical works of Descartes.

Later in his life, he moved back to Paris[4] and turned his studies towards the origins of the modern Americas, a topic to which he was highly devoted.

[3] This led to his exploration of records of the discovery of the Americas, and to his amassing of a substantial body of critical and historical works on this subject.