VOLTAIREFATHER OF THE FRENCH

REVOLUTION

Who is Voltaire? Francois Marie Arouet Born November 21, 1694 in Paris His parents were Middle Class. His Father was a prosperous lawyer. He was a sickly person, but lived a long

life. He studied with the Jesuits. He loved poetry and writing, but his

father wanted him to study law, not poetry.

Who is Voltaire? He had an ability to easily make friends,

particularly in aristocratic circles – he had a reputation for being utterly charming, which would get him into trouble.

At the same time, he was honing his skills as a poet and satiric essay writer while neglecting his legal studies, much to his father’s chagrin.

In Paris, he was known as a notorious “libertine” – a freethinker who rejected the status quo – his libelous poems had him sent away from Paris (this would not be the only time).

Who is Voltaire? In 1717, he was sent to the Bastille

because of his writing, where he stayed for 11 months.

It was after his release from the Bastille that he began to use the single name Voltaire.

While there is some speculation why he chose the name, the two most widely accepted are that it either came from his mother’s side of the family OR that it came from the term le volontaire.

What is Voltaire’s philosophy? He has been described as:

“A man who prefers to see clearly in all matters; in religion and in philosophy, he believes willingly only what he understands, and he admits that there are things he does not know; he values application above speculation, simplifies ethics as well as doctrine, and tries to direct it toward useful virtues; he likes a moderate political system that preserves natural liberty, the liberty of conscience, of speech and of the individual, reduces evil as much as possible, procures the greatest good, and places justice among the highest benefits; in the arts, he admires above all moderation and truth; he has a deadly hatred for hypocrisy, fanaticism and bad taste; he does not limit himself in detesting them, he fights them to death.” – Ernest Benot from Etudes et pensees (1884)

Voltaire’s Paris

Voltaire’s Paris