isinstance(object, classinfo)
Return true if the object argument is an
instance of the classinfo argument, or of a (direct, indirect or
virtual) subclass thereof. Also return true if classinfo is a type
object (new-style class) and object is an object of that type or of a
(direct, indirect or virtual) subclass thereof. If object is not a
class instance or an object of the given type, the function always
returns false. If classinfo is neither a class object nor a type
object, it may be a tuple of class or type objects, or may recursively
contain other such tuples (other sequence types are not accepted). If
classinfo is not a class, type, or tuple of classes, types, and such
tuples, a TypeError exception is raised.