Molière Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (; ; 15 January 162217 February 1673), was a French playwright, actor and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature. His extant works includes comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today. His influence is such that the French language itself is often referred to as the "language of Molière". Born into a prosperous family and having studied at
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai (12 June 1760 – 25 August 1797) was a French novelist, playwright, journalist, politician, and diplomat. Born in Paris as the son of a stationer, he became a bookseller's clerk, and first attracted attention with the first part of his novel "Les Amours du chevalier de Faublas" (Paris, 1787; English translation illustrated by etchings by Louis Monzies in 1898); it was followed in 1788 by "Six semaines de la vie du chevalier de Faublas" and in 1790 by "La Fin des amours du chevalier de Faublas". The heroine, Lodoiska, was modelled on