Il naquit à Paris en 1622, fils de Marie Cressé et d’un marchand tapissier, Jean Poquelin.   Son père devint tapissier ordinaire du Roi, mais sa mère mourut alors que son fils n’avait que dix ans.

Jean-Baptiste suivit des cours au collège jésuite de Clermont jusqu’en 1637, avant de partir à Orléans y faire des études de droit.   Ayant renoncé à une carrière juridique et à l’héritage que son père aurait pu lui offrir, il est presque certain que le jeune Poquelin fit ses débuts théâtraux avant 1643.

Born in Paris in 1622, his father Jean Poquelin was an upholsterer, his mother was called Marie Cressé.   His father was to earn an appointment to the King, but his mother died when the Jean-Baptiste was only ten years old.

Jean-Baptiste went to a Jesuit school until he was sixteen before moving to Orléans to study law.   He gave up the legal profession, however, and refused to follow his father’s trade, choosing instead a career in theatre.   He almost certainly made his theatrical debut before 1643.