Étienne Brûlé (ca. 1592-1633) was a French explorer in North America. He was the first European to voyage through the Great Lakes and the Susquehanna Valley.

Etienne Brûlé was born reputedly at Champigny-sur-Marne. When, in 1608, Samuel de Champlain went to the New World and founded a trading post at Quebec, Brûlé was probably a member of that expedition. In 1610 Brûlé voyaged west with a band of Algonquians to learn their language, a vital necessity in the fur trade. Where Brûlé traveled is not known, but when he returned to Quebec the following year, Champlain was well pleased with Brûlé's knowledge of the Indian country and the Algonquin language. Shortly afterward Brûlé returned to the west; and when Champlain, in 1615, assisted the Hurons in a campaign...