Molière

Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris, was a French playwright, actor, and theatre director regarded as a foundational figure of comedy in the French language. Educated by Jesuits, he abandoned a path in his father's upholstery trade and the law to found the Illustre Théâtre in 1643. After the troupe failed, he spent roughly thirteen years touring the provinces before returning to Paris in 1658 under royal patronage. There he wrote and staged works including Tartuffe, Dom Juan, Le Misanthrope, L'Avare, and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. He collapsed while performing in his own play Le Malade imaginaire and died shortly afterward in 1673.