Or so says the worthy Dominique Labbé, according to an article by Lila Azam Zanganeh in today's NY Times.
In "Corneille in the Shadow of Molière," a book recently published in France, Dominique Labbé, a specialist in what is known as lexical statistics, claims that he has solved a "fascinating scientific enigma" by determining that all of Molière's masterpieces — "Le Tartuffe", "Dom Juan," "Le Misanthrope," "L'Avare" — were in fact the work of Pierre Corneille, the revered tragedian and acclaimed author of "Le Cid."Now, I know some of you are laughing out there. [Pause for laughter to subside.] Personally, however, I consider this exactly as credible as the theory that the Earl of Oxford wrote the works usually attributed to Shakespeare. And I should know, because (it's time to come clean) this blog is actually co-created by the Earl of Oxford and Pierre Corneille. You didn't think a peasant like me could know all this stuff, did you? I just hope you're not too disillusioned, because I try to keep you all happy. Noblesse oblige and all that. Posted by languagehat at September 6, 2003 01:48 PM"There is such a powerful convergence of clues that no doubt is possible," Mr. Labbé said.