Author and crusader against bigotry and despotism, b. 21 November 1694 (Paris, France), d. 30 May 1778 (Paris).
Voltaire's birth certificate names him as François-Marie Arouet and sets his birth date as 21 November 1694. Voltaire himself gave his birth date as 20 February of the same year and stated that his father was a certain officer and songwriter Rochebrune. But he grew up in the petit-bourgeois, or middle-class, family of François Arouet and lost his mother at the age of seven.
Through the services of his godfather the Abbé de Châteauneuf he attended the Jesuit college of Louis-le-Grand in Paris and received an education in the Greek and Latin classics. He decided against the study of the law and became secretary of the French embassy in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Sent back to Paris because of an infatuation with a girl of uncertain background he decided to ignore his father's wishes and to live for literature and philosophy. Bright, witty and not afraid of authority, he became the centre of attention in Parisian society but soon saw the interior of the Bastille prison for nearly a year in 1717 because he made fun of the Duc d'Orléans.
Behind Voltaire's entertaining facade was his belief in the strength of reason and an unshakeable sense of justice. His constant pleas for tolerance were a powerful criticism of the times, which had seen freedom of religion revoked by Louis XIV in 1685. Trained in the classics and full of admiration for Greek tragedy he adopted the name Voltaire and began to write classical tragedies. His works, close imitations of Greek plays, were well received, gained him a pension from the Duc and established him as France's court poet. But in 1726 an argument with an aristocrat forced him to flee to England, where he stayed for two years.
Emigration assisted Voltaire's intellectual development greatly. He became fluent in English, studied the works of Locke and Newton and appreciated the open discussion of religious and philosophical questions. He admired the dramatic qualities of Shakespeare's works (though he was convinced that France could stage superior performances than the "barbarism" of English theatre) and returned to France determined to present England as a model of liberalism.
Back in Paris Voltaire continued to produce plays, now imitating Shakespeare, and turned to the study of history. His criticism of tyrants remained as acerbic as ever, but he supported the rule of great men, provided they furthered civilization. In 1734 he published the Lettres philosophiques (Philosophical letters), which demonstrate in succinct brevity the benefits gained from religious tolerance and promote progress in science and the arts as the basis for happiness and a fulfilled life.
The Lettres philosophiques are the incarnation of 18th century European thought and define the direction of European thought into today, but the religious and political establishment of the time was incensed and issued an arrest warrant. Voltaire found refuge in the château of the Marquise du Châtelet at Cirey in Champagne, and the two established a liaison that would last many years. Both had an interest in the sciences; Madame du Châtelet learned English in order to translate Newton, and Voltaire took up writing plays again. In 1739 a lawsuit forced the couple to move to Belgium, and from then on they changed location constantly.
Voltaire's life took a dramatic turn in 1748. He discovered that Madame du Châtelet had an affair with a poet. The following year she died during childbirth with Voltaire at her side, and Voltaire returned to Paris, deeply distressed by the loss of his companion of 15 years.
In 1750 Voltaire followed an invitation of the Prussian emperor Frederick II and moved to Berlin. Again a lawsuit forced him to leave in 1753. Louis XV did not allow him to enter France, and after some uncertainty he found asylum in Geneva, Switzerland, where he completed his major historical studies on Peter the Great.
Geneva, the capital of Calvinist Protestantism, was impressed by Voltaire's wit and intelligence, and his house was the place of much discourse and discussion. But Calvinists considered the theatre a place of bad influence, and Voltaire's plays could not be staged. In his famous novel Candide, written in 1758, Voltaire resigned himself to a philosophy that the secret of happiness is "to cultivate one's garden" and acquired Ferney, a rural property on the border to France, and the adjoining French property Tourney.
Life in the country proved to be busier than ever. The patriarchal landlord Voltaire established a modern agribusiness based on scientific principles. But his sense of justice kept him in the public eye; he regularly intervened on behalf of peasants and the poor, whether it was on the question of the tithes, about workmen being beaten, or for the abolition of serfdom. To assist the poor of Geneva he established factories on his properties, which brought him popular acclamation from the ordinary people.
Voltaire's fame by now had spread over the continent - he was known as the "Innkeeper of Europe". He fought for respect for the rights of every human being and demanded the abolition of torture and other cruel punishments. In 1762 a protestant merchant of Toulouse was accused of having killed his son, who had wanted to convert to Catholicism. When he was put to death despite protesting his innocence, Voltaire managed to obtained his vindication and the indemnification of his family.
For many years Voltaire found ways to avoid the wrath of the authorities by moving across the Swiss-French border on his properties as the situation required. Eventually his love of the theatre brought him back to Paris to direct the staging of his play Irène in 1778. His return was a triumph - over 300 visitors turned up at his residence on the first day, and at the play's first performance he received a rousing ovation. The excitement was all too much for the 83 year old Voltaire; he became bedridden and died peacefully two months later. His nephew, the Abbé Mignot, had his body taken to the Abbey of Scellières, where he could receive a Christian burial before the news that the authorities had prohibited such a burial could get there. His remains were transferred to the Panthéon in July 1791 during the French Revolution.
For a full century after his death Voltaire was revered by the middle and working classes of Europe but remained anathema to the official church and to conservative philosophers. Today his plays and poetry are no longer of interest but his prose is read and his Lettres philosophiques have become part of the heritage of European civilization. Among his major works are
Stories:
History:
Philosophy:
Plays:
Other works:
Pomeau, R. H. (1995) Voltaire. Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th ed.