Louis Charles Georges Jules Lafont (24 April 1825 – 31 January 1908) was a French naval officer who was Governor of Cochinchina from 1877 to 1879.

Louis Charles Georges Jules Lafont was born on 24 April 1825 in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

[3] Lafonte was made enseigne de vaisseau (ensign) on 1 September 1847, and returned to France in 1848 after the Victorieuse sank in Korea.

[2] In January 1862 Lafont was again aide-de-camp of Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, commander of the training squadron.

From 1868 to 1870 Lafont commanded the ironclad Héroïne in the training squadron, flagship of Albert Gicquel des Touches.

[3] During the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870 Lafont took command of the Armid in the Baltic during the blockade of the Prussian coast.

[4] In January the USS Monocacy under Commander Sumner visited Saigon, where the officers were invited to a grand ball at the governor's palace.

At the time Lafont's flagship was the old line battleship Tilsitt, and the other naval vessels were the Antelope, a small paddle steamer, a troopship and about a dozen 60 feet (18 m) long riverboats.

These drew 3 feet (0.91 m), steamed at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and were armed with a six-inch breech loading rifle.

[7] Lafont set out to make the system of taxation fairer and less burdensome to small landowners, many of whom had not registered their land.

He wrote, "Many individuals, being implicated in theft, insolvency and even crime, get themselves issued with documents from senior mandarins, Princes, and even Your Majesty's wives,certifying to no-one is entitled to pursue them without having first obtained the prior authorization of the Protectorate ...

[8] Lafont was replaced as governor in July 1879 by Charles Le Myre de Vilers.

[6] On 1 April 1880 Lafont was appointed deputy commander of the training squadron under Vice-Admiral Henri Garnault(fr) with the battleship Suffren as his flagship.

[6] On 4 December 1894 he was made president of central council that raised money for a hospital ship to be sent to the fishermen off Iceland and Newfoundland.

A land-based abri des marins was set up in Saint-Pierre to provide an alternative to drinking places for seamen while on shore.