Jean Baptiste Kléber (9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) is a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars.

His military career starts in Habsburg service, but his plebeian ancestry hinders his opportunities.

Eventually, he volunteers for the French Army in 1791, and rises through the ranks.

Kléber serves in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition, and also suppresses the Vendee Revolt.

He retires to private life in the peaceful interim after the Treaty of Campo Formio, but returns to military service to accompany Napoleon in the Egyptian Campaign in 1798-99.

When Napoleon leaves Egypt to return to Paris, he appoints Kléber as commander of the French forces.

He is assassinated by a student in Cairo in 1800.