Jean Marigny (born 9 April 1939 in Cherbourg) is a French emeritus professor of Stendhal University in Grenoble, where he taught English and American literature. He is a specialist in vampire studies, from ancient folklore to modern vampire myth.
Jean Marigny has devoted much of his career to the myth of vampires, he is the founder of the research centre for studies in fantasy and horror in English and American literature: the (GERF, lit. 'Group of Studies and Research on Fantasy') which he directed several years at Stendhal University. He is also a member of the Canadian branch of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula.
After his doctoral dissertation in 1985, , he has published a number of essays and translated novels and short stories about the vampire theme. He published two anthologies, in 1978 and (in collaboration with Roger Bozzetto) in 1997. He is the author of (1993), a copiously illustrated pocket book that has been translated into seven languages (including English) and was a reaction to Francis Coppola's Dracula. He also directed a collective work on Dracula for the collection published by . Marigny is considered one of the greatest vampire specialists around the world, particularly with regard to Anglo-Saxon fiction on the subject.
What fascinates Marigny about vampire is the character: a paradoxical being. As he explains, 'No fictional character is more emblematic of the fantasy than the vampire. If it is true that [...] fantasy is based on paradox, the vampire is the best illustration, since it is both dead and alive.'