Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Moliere, (1622-1673) was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Moliere's best-known works are Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope), L'Ecole des Femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou L'Imposteur (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare (The Miser), Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).