When the French refer to their native tongue, they often call it the “language of Molière” and as their most famous comic playwright turns 400, he remains as central to Gallic culture as Shakespeare in the English-speaking world.

This weekend, France launched a year of events to mark the anniversary, including new statues, an official Moliere stamp, a costume exhibition, and of course, fresh stagings of his biting comedies such as The Imaginary Invalid and The Miser.

To kick celebrations off, the famous Comédie-Française in Paris, the oldest active theatre company in the world, on Saturday held a special performance of the originally banned 1664 Tartuffe, broadcast live in cinemas in seven countries.

The 17th-century wordsmith has even been thrust to the centre of France’s presidential election campaign amid claims that the anniversary had been overlooked by President Emmanuel Macron, who is reportedly able to recite entire scenes of Molière’s works.

Writing in Le Figaro this week, centre-right Republicans candidate Valérie Pécresse said Mr Macron had turned his back on the writer, failing to mark the “indelible imprint [he] left on universal culture”.