Voltaire
Also known as François-Marie Arouet
French Enlightenment writer and satirist (1694–1778); wrote Candide; campaigned for religious tolerance.
At a glance
Main ideas
Écrasez l'infâme, Religious tolerance, Deism …
See all 5Books to start with
Letters concerning the English nation, Zadig, or Destiny, Candide, or Optimism …
See all 5Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet, was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, satirist and historian.
- He was known for his wit and his criticism of Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, and of slavery.
- He argued for freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.
- He wrote in almost every form, from plays and poems to histories, and his best-known work is the novella Candide.
Why it matters
- He was one of the first authors to become famous and commercially successful internationally, and his campaigns against intolerance made him a central figure of the Enlightenment.
Key facts
- Born
- 21 Nov 1694, Paris1
- Died
- 30 May 1778, Paris1
- Education
- Collège Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit school, from 1704 to 17111
- Pen name
- Adopted in 1718, after eleven months in the Bastille for a satirical verse; its origin is unclear1
- England
- Exiled there in 1726 after a second spell in the Bastille; its constitutional monarchy and freer speech shaped his thinking1
- Ferney
- Bought the estate in late 1758 and lived there most of his last 20 years; the town is now Ferney-Voltaire1
- Calas affair
- Campaigned for the Huguenot merchant Jean Calas, tortured to death over his son's supposed murder, and had the conviction overturned in 17651
- Output
- More than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets1
- Misattributed quote
- "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" is by Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1906), not Voltaire1
- On race
- A polygenist who held that races had separate origins; historians link this to attacks on the biblical creation story or to his investments in colonial trading companies1
Main ideas
-
Écrasez l'infâme1
"Crush the infamous": his refrain against abuses of power by church and crown and the intolerance fostered by the clergy.
-
Religious tolerance1
"We should regard all men as our brothers", the Turk, the Chinese and the Jew included.
-
Deism1
The existence of a supreme being was for him a matter of reason, not faith.
-
Against easy optimism1
Candide mocks Leibniz's claim that this is the "best of all possible worlds".
-
Superstition and philosophy1
"Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them."
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
-
Letters concerning the English nation1
Published in French as Lettres philosophiques in 1734.
-
Zadig, or Destiny1
-
Candide, or Optimism1
His best-known work, a satire on Leibniz's optimism.
-
Treatise on Tolerance1
His first major work against "l'infâme", on the Calas affair.
-
Articles mainly on Christian history and dogma.
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us
The line under a date fills as time passes: empty when new, then one equal share each for a day, a week, a month and a year. For episodes and other items it is full at 2 years; for "last checked", at a year. A striped line means the date is known only to the month or year.