Who was voltaire?
Brief Bio: Francois Marie Arouet (pseudonym Voltaire) was born on 21 November 694 in Paris, France. Voltaire’s intelligence, wit and style made him one of France’s greatest writers and philosophers. Young Francois Marie received his education at “Louis-le-Grand,” a Jesuit college in Paris where he said he learned nothing but “Latin and the Stupidities.” He left school at 17 and soon made friends among the Parisian aristocrats. His humorous verses made him a favorite in society circles. In 1717, his sharp wit got him into trouble with the authorities. He was imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months for writing a scathing satire of the French government. During his time in prison Francois Marie wrote “Oedipe” which was to become his first theatrical success and adopted his pen name “Voltaire.” In 1726, Voltaire insulted the powerful young nobleman, “Chevalier De Rohan,” and was given two options: imprisonment or exile. He chose exile and from 1726 to 1729 lived in England. While in E
Well, he was a great ironic wit, but the targets of his ridicule, the government and the church, didn’t think he was very funny, and made sure he was imprisoned twice in the Bastille. Paris eventually gave him a hero’s welcome just before his death in 1778. His last words, upon seeing a burning candle, were supposedly: “What, already in hell?” But Paris wasn’t done with him yet. In 1814, right-wing religious zealots broke into his tomb and stole his bones, then dumped them in a pit and covered them with lime. That’s when writing actually made a difference. Hard to see that happening with that lady who cranks out the Harry Potter books. Besides his writings, Voltaire?s legacy includes a museum, boulevard, and Metro stop in Paris, a bookstore in Austin, Texas, the annoying 80s band Cabaret Voltaire, and a town in North Dakota named Voltaire (pop. 63). We can also thank him for the classic phrase: “If God did not exist, he would have to be invented.” I wish someone had invented signs poin
Voltaire was the nom de plume of Francois Marie Arouet (1694-1778) was born on November 21, 1694 in Paris; although, some say that his birth was kept secret for he was quoted as saying many times that he had been born on February 20 of that same year. Because of Voltaire’s wit, intelligence, style, and prudent sense of justice, many consider him one of France’s greatest writers and philosophers.
