Voltaire – Author Biography
Early Life
François-Marie Arouet, who later took the pen name Voltaire, was born on November 21, 1694, in Paris, France, the son of a notary. A brilliant and irreverent student at the Jesuit Collège Louis-le-Grand, he began his career as a witty, troublemaking man of letters, landing in the Bastille twice for his satirical verses against the powerful.
Career
Voltaire’s epic poem La Henriade and his tragedy Zaïre made him famous, but his Lettres philosophiques (1734), praising English liberty and attacking French intolerance, forced him into exile. He spent years with his lover Émilie du Châtelet at Cirey, writing prolifically, then served at Frederick the Great’s court in Prussia before settling in Ferney, near Geneva, where he became the conscience of Europe, campaigning against religious persecution in famous cases like that of Jean Calas. His novella Candide (1759), a savage satire of philosophical optimism, is his most enduring work. He returned to Paris in triumph in 1778 and died there on May 30, 1778.
Major Works
His most famous works are the novella Candide, the Lettres philosophiques, the tragedy Zaïre, the Dictionnaire philosophique, and histories including Le Siècle de Louis XIV. He wrote more than fifty plays and thousands of letters.
Writing Style and Themes
Voltaire wrote with unmatched wit, clarity, and economy; his prose is the model of French Enlightenment style. His recurring themes are religious tolerance, freedom of expression, the critique of superstition and fanaticism, and the defense of reason against dogma. Candide demolishes Leibnizian optimism through the misadventures of its naive hero, concluding with the famous injunction to “cultivate our garden.”
Legacy
Voltaire is the defining figure of the French Enlightenment, his name synonymous with free speech and the fight against intolerance. His remains were moved to the Panthéon during the Revolution, and his ideas helped shape modern conceptions of civil liberty. Candide remains one of the most widely read works of French literature.
