Voltaire

The French Enlightenment author, historian, and philosopher François-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name Voltaire, was renowned for his wit, criticism of Christianity—particularly the Roman Catholic Church—and of slavery, as well as his support for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state. He was born in Paris, the youngest of the five children of Marie Marguerite Daumard, a member of the lowest class of French nobility, and François Arouet, a lawyer and minor treasury official.

Writing in nearly every literary genre, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and scientific expositions, Voltaire was a diverse and prolific author. Over 20,000 letters, as well as 2,000 booklets and pamphlets, were written by him. He was one of the first writers to achieve fame and financial success abroad. As a vocal supporter of individual rights, he was always in danger due to the harsh censorship regulations of the Catholic French monarchy. His polemics savagely mocked prejudice, orthodoxy, and the French institutions of his time. His most well-known work and magnum opus, Candide, is a novella that makes fun of, critiques, and comments on a variety of historical events, thinkers, and philosophical ideas.

Birth - Death: 1694 - 1778