Felix Salten (German: [ˈzaltn̩]; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austrian author and literary critic. His most famous work is Bambi, a Life in the Woods, which was adapted into an animated feature film, Bambi, by Walt Disney Productions in 1942.

Salten was born Siegmund Salzmann in Pest (Budapest), Hungary. When he was three weeks old, his family moved to Vienna, Austria. Many Jews were immigrating into the city in the late 19th century because Vienna had finally granted full citizenship to Jews in 1867.

When his father went bankrupt, Felix had to quit school and begin working in an insurance agency. He also began submitting poems and book reviews to journals. He became part of the Young Vienna movement (Jung Wien) and soon received work as a full-time art and theater critic in the Vienna press. In 1901, he founded Vienna's first short-lived literary cabaret.