Voltaire Biography

François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

"The shadow of Voltaire hovers over the 18th century. As a philosopher, playwright, poet, historian, and unparalleled polemicist, the man embodies the 'French spirit' of that era.

His writing talent allowed him to explore almost all genres: comedy, tragedy, pamphlet, journalism, philosophical tale, historical work, speech, and literary criticism. A convinced humanist, he fought for the defense of human rights and against religious fanaticism." Excerpt from L'Internaute.

1694: February 20: Birth of Voltaire François-Marie Arouet, also known as Voltaire, in Chatenay, near Sceaux. He was not baptized until November 22, 1694, due to his very weak condition (at Saint-André des Arcs).

Father: Former notary at the Châtelet, was a treasurer of the chamber of accounts.

Mother: Marguerite d'Aumart, belonged to a noble family from Poitou.

1778: May 30: Death of Voltaire in Paris (He is buried at the abbey of Scellières (near Troyes)).

After attending the Jesuit college Louis-le-Grand, he pursued brilliant studies in rhetoric and philosophy. He quickly chose a literary career.

The Biography of Voltaire - Bio Voltaire - Summary biography of Voltaire

1717: May 16: At 23 years old, François-Marie Arouet is sent to the Bastille for offending the Regent. He stays there for 11 months. He begins to write Oedipus and adopts the pseudonym Voltaire.

The Duke of Orléans, convinced of his innocence, released him and granted him a stipend.

"My Lord," said Voltaire to him, "I thank your royal highness for kindly taking care of my nourishment, but I beg you not to take care of my lodging anymore."

1724: Voltaire presented "Marianne"

1726: Second stay in the Bastille. Quarrel with the Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot. During this quarrel, Voltaire, who was 32 years old, had this witty remark: "My name, I am starting it, and you finish yours." The powerful family of the knight had him imprisoned on a lettre de cachet.

1728: "Brutus" and "The Death of Caesar" were the fruits of his stay in England.

1734: Voltaire publishes the "Philosophical Letters". This satire causes a scandal and is condemned by the censors. He flees Paris and takes refuge in Lorraine at the home of the Marquise du Châtelet.

1747: Voltaire is invited to Versailles. He becomes a courtier and discovers the intrigues of the Court of Louis XV. They inspire him to write "Memnon, an Eastern story".

1750: Voltaire accepts the invitation of King Frederick II of Prussia. He stays for 3 years in Berlin. The king grants him a pension of 20,000 livres.

Biography of Voltaire - Biography of the philosopher Voltaire

1752: During this period, he writes "The Century of Louis XIV" and the philosophical tale "Micromégas".

He had to leave the court following a quarrel with Maupertuis and moved to Switzerland.

1759: He completes one of his masterpieces, "Candide, or Optimism".

1763: The Calas affair and the death of Jean Calas. To achieve a retrial, Voltaire publishes "Treatise on Tolerance on the Occasion of the Death of Jean Calas". The municipal officer of Toulouse, due to the false accusations he had made, was dismissed.

1765: Rehabilitation of Jean Calas (He had been tortured and executed for being suspected of killing his son),

The Chevalier de la Barre is executed (hand cut off, tongue pulled out before being beheaded and burned at the stake). He had been condemned for blasphemy. This execution would be the last due to blasphemy in France. The Revolution is near. The Chevalier de la Barre was rehabilitated in 1793.

1778: Voltaire returns to Paris. He attends the performance of his last tragedy "Irene". He is acclaimed by the Parisians.

1778: On May 30, Voltaire dies in Paris. He is buried at the Abbey of Scellières in France.

1791: Voltaire's remains are transferred to the Panthéon thirteen years after his death. The procession is accompanied by many actors, workers, members of the National Assembly, magistrates, etc. However, no member of the clergy is present.

After being displayed at the Bastille, Voltaire's coffin is taken to the Panthéon.

His epitaph alone summarizes Voltaire:

"He fought atheists and fanatics. He inspired tolerance, he claimed the rights of man against the servitude of feudalism. Poet, historian, philosopher, he enlarged the human mind, and taught it to be free."

Philosophical Letters by Voltaire

"Let us crush the infamous!"

(Voltaire's favorite motto against religious intolerance)

"Praying to God is to flatter oneself that with words, one will change nature."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / The Sottisier)

"Our priests are not what a vain people think: Our credulity makes all their science."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Oedipus, IV, 1)

"Philosophers will never form a religious sect. Why? It's because they do not write for the people, and they are without enthusiasm."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Philosophical Letters)

"Human reason is so incapable of demonstrating the immortality of the soul by itself that religion had to reveal it to us."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Philosophical Letters)

"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / The For and the Against)

"God should not suffer from the foolishness of the priest."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Epistles, 1769)

"It is obvious that all religions have borrowed all their dogmas and all their rites from each other."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / On the Quran and the Muslim law)

"God created women only to tame men."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / The Ingenuous, 1767)

"The Jewish religion, mother of Christianity, grandmother of Islam, beaten by her son and grandson."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / The Sottisier)

"God? We greet each other, but we do not talk."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Correspondence, letter to Piron)

"People claim that God made man in his image, but man has returned the favor."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Complete Works)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778)

"Religion has existed since the first hypocrite met the first fool!"

(François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire / 1694-1778)

"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778)

These are just two of his reflections. Many of them hit home today just as much as they did when Voltaire was alive:

"Once fanaticism has gangrened a brain, the disease is almost incurable. What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers to obey God rather than men and is sure of earning heaven by slitting your throat? It is usually the scoundrels who lead the fanatics and put the dagger in their hands; they resemble the Old Man of the Mountain who, it is said, made idiots taste the joys of paradise and promised them an eternity of those pleasures he had given them a foretaste of, provided they would assassinate all those he named."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Philosophical Dictionary)

"Every sect, in whatever kind it may be, is the rallying point of doubt and error. Scotists, Thomists, realists, nominalists, Papists, Calvinists, Molinists, Jansenists are only names of war. There is no sect in geometry; one does not say an Euclidean, an Archimedean. When truth is evident, it is impossible for parties and factions to arise. No one has ever disputed whether it is daylight at noon."

(Voltaire / 1694-1778 / Philosophical Dictionary)

Voltaire Philosophical Works:

Philosophical Letters (1734)

Treatise on Tolerance (1763)

Philosophical Dictionary (1764)

Voltaire Historical Works:

The Henriade (1728)

The History of Charles XII (1731)

The Age of Louis XIV (1751)

Essay on Manners (1741)

Voltaire Tales:

Zadig (1747)

Candide (1759)

Micromégas (1752)

The Ingenuous (1767)

Voltaire Tragedies:

Oedipus (1718),

Zaïre (1732),

Mahomet (1742)

Voltaire Poetry:

Philosophical Poems and Satirical Poems

Poem on the Lisbon Disaster (1756)