Antoine de Févin

Antoine de Févin (ca. 1470 – late 1511 or early 1512) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was active at the same time as Josquin des Prez, and shares many traits with his more famous contemporary.

Févin was most likely born in Arras, the son of an alderman. His brother Robert de Févin was also a composer. Most likely Antoine left Arras in the late 1480s, though there is no evidence that he went to Italy, the commonest destination for Franco-Flemish composers of the time. In the 1490s it is likely he became a priest (although there is no known documentation of that today), and he also may have obtained a master's degree at a university, since he is commonly known as maistre later in his life. By 1507, he was working as a singer and composer for Louis XII of France, who praised him highly. He died at Blois.

The Swiss music theorist and biographer Heinrich Glarean, writing in 1547, noted that Févin was a follower of Josquin, and that he died young; he also mentioned him as being a composer of Orleans, though this most likely referred to the association of that city with the court of Louis XII.