\b0 Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, who adopted the pseudonym of MoliΦre, was born in Paris in 1622. The son o
f a tapestry maker in ordinary to the king, he became a lawyer but gave up the courts to satisfy his passion for the theater. In 1642 he founded the company of the Illustre ThΘΓtre and spent thirteen years traveling around France before settling in Paris
, as a protege of the king's son and of \b \ATXul1024 \cf4 \ATXht466 Louis XIV\b0 \ATXul0 \cf0 \ATXht0 himself. It was there that he wrote and performed such masterpieces as \i Tartuffe\i0 (\i The Tartuffe\i0 ) (1664), \i Le Misanthrope \i0 (\i The Mis
anthrope\i0 ) (1666), \i L'Avare \i0 (\i The Miser\i0 )\i \i0 (1668), and \i Le bourgeois gentilhomme \i0 (\i The Would-be Gentleman\i0 )\i \i0 (1670). Over thirty plays in fifteen years, including \i Le malade imaginaire \i0 (\i The Imaginary Invalid
\i0 ) (1673). It was during a performance of the latter, in which he played the main role, that he died.\par
