François-

Mar i
eArouet(French:[
fʁɑs
̃wamaʁi aʁwɛ];21November1694–30May1778) ,known
byhi snom deplumeVol tai
re(/vɒl
ˈ
tɛər,voʊl-
/;
[5]
[6]
[7]al
soUS:/vɔː
l
-/,
[
8][9]Fr
ench:[vɔl
tɛː
ʁ])
,was
aFrenchEnl i
ghtenmentwr i
ter,
hist
orian,andphil
osopherfamousforhiswit,
hiscri
tici
sm of
Christi
anit
y—especiall
ytheRomanCat holi
cChurch—aswel l
ashisadvocacyoffreedom of
speech, f
reedom ofrel
igi
on,andsepar at
ionofchurchandstate.

Vol
tai
re

Por
trai
tbyNi
col
asdeLar
gil
l
ièr
e,c.1724

Por
trai
tbyNi
col
asdeLar
gil
l
ièr
e,c.1724

Bor
n

Fr
ançoi
s-Mar
ieAr
ouet

21Nov
ember1694

Par
is,
Kingdom ofFr
ance

Di
ed

30May1778(
aged83)

Par
is,
Kingdom ofFr
ance

Rest
ingpl
ace

Pant
héon,
Par
is,
France

Occupat
ion

Wr
it
er,
phi
l
osopher

Language

Fr
ench

Nat
ional
i
ty

Fr
ench

Al
mamat
er

Col
l
ègeLoui
s-l
e-Gr
and

Par
tner
Émi
l
ieduChât
elet(
1733–1749)

Phi
l
osophycar
eer

Er
a

AgeofEnl
i
ght
enment

Regi
on

West
ernphi
l
osophy

Fr
enchphi
l
osophy

School

Lumi
ères

Phi
l
osophes

Dei
sm

Cl
assi
cal
li
ber
ali
sm

Mai
nint
erest
s

Pol
i
tical
phi
l
osophy
,li
ter
atur
e,hi
stor
iogr
aphy
,bi
bli
cal
cri
ti
cism

Not
abl
eideas

Phi
l
osophyofhi
stor
y,[
1]f
reedom ofr
eli
gion,
freedom ofspeech,
separ
ati
onofchur
chandst
ate

I
nfl
uences

Franci
sBacon, Pi
err
eBay l
e,Jacques-
Béni
gneBossuet,MigueldeCervant
es,Cicero,Emil
i
ede
Chatel
et,Pier
reCorneil
l
e,Epicur
us,Homer
,Gott
fri
edWi l
helm Lei
bniz,
JohnLocke, Luci
an,
Lucret
ius,JeanMeslier
,Moli
ere,I
saacNewton,
AlexanderPope,JeanRacine,Will
i
am
Shakespeare,I
bnTufail
,Vir
gil

I
nfl
uenced

VissarionBel i
nsky,Jer
emyBent ham, JorgeLuisBorges,Lor dByron,
Cather
inetheGreat,Emil
i
e
deChat el
et,DenisDiderot,Gustav eFlaubert,
Frederi
cktheGr eat
,Wil
li
am Godwin,Johann
Wol fgangv onGoet he,AlexanderHer zen, Ker
mani,[
2]ChristopherHit
chens,
[3]Vi
ctorHugo,Karl
Mar x,Napol eon,Fr
iedri
chNi etzsche,ThomasPai ne,Jean-JacquesRousseau,PercyBysshe
Shelley,Dav i
dStrauss,
[4]Mar yWol l
stonecraf
t

Si
gnat
ure
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Voltair
ewasav ersati
l
eandpr ol
ifi
cwr iter
,producingwor ksinalmostev er
ylit
eraryform,
i
ncludingpl ays,
poems, novel
s,essays, hi
stori
es,andsci enti
fi
cexposi
tions.Hewr otemor ethan
20,000lettersand2,000booksandpamphl ets.[
10]Hewasoneoft hef i
rstauthorstobecome
renownedandcommer cial
l
ysuccessf ul i
nter
nationall
y.Hewasanout spokenadv ocateofcivi
l
l
iberti
es,andhewasatconst antri
skf rom thest r
ictcensorshipl
awsoft heCat hol
icFrench
monar chy.Hispolemicswitheri
nglysat i
ri
zedi nt
olerance,rel
i
giousdogma, andt heFrench
i
nst i
tuti
onsofhi sday.

Bi
ogr
aphy

Wr
it
ings

Rel
i
giousandphi
l
osophi
cal
views

Vi
ewsonr
aceandsl
aver
y

Appr
eci
ati
onandi
nfl
uence

Vol
tai
reandRousseau

Legacy

Wor
ks

Seeal
so

Ref
erences

Fur
therr
eadi
ng

Ext
ernal
li
nks

Lastedi
ted5day
sagobyDr
Kay

Cont
enti
sav
ail
abl
eunderCCBY-
SA3.
0unl
essot
her
wisenot
ed.

Pr
ivacypol
i
cyTer
msofUseDeskt
op