(1572–1637)
an English writer of plays and poetry. His most famous comedies are Every Man in his Humour (1598), Volpone (1606), The Alchemist (1610), Bartholomew Fair (1614), in which the characters are always trying to trick each other to gain advantage for themselves, and The Devil is an Ass (1616). Jonson is regarded as the first English Poet Laureate . He was a friend of Shakespeare , who acted in some of his plays.