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 de Gennes Jean-Baptiste de Gennes Jean-Baptiste de Gennes, comte d'Oyac ( – 15 February 1705) was a French naval officer who is known as an early French explorer of the Straits of Magellan. He was the last governor of the French colony of Saint-Christophe on the West Indian island now called Saint Kitts. After he surrendered the island to the English during the War of the Spanish Succession he was tried and found guilty of cowardice. He died before his appeal to this verdict could be heard. He was also an inventor, and among other devices invented a power loom driven by