Voltaire, pseudonym of Fran�ois Marie Arouet 1694-1778
French writer and historian, the embodiment of the 18th-century enlightenment

Voltaire was born in Paris, where his father, Fran�ois Arouet, was a notary in the chambre des comptes. He was educated by Jesuits and studied law, but disliked this and turned instead to writing. He soon acquired notoriety as the author of a satire on his successful rival in the poetic competition for an Academy prize. In 1716, on suspicion of satirizing the regent, the Duc d'Orl�ans, he was banished for several months from Paris, and in 1717-18, a savage attack accusing the regent of all manner of crimes resulted in 11 months' imprisonment in the Bastille. There he rewrote his tragedy ?dipe, began a poem on Henri IV and assumed the name Voltaire. ?dipe was performed in 1718, and was triumphantly successful.

The authorities refused to sanction the publication of 'Henri IV', because it championed Protestantism and religious toleration, so Voltaire had it printed secretly in Rouen (1723) and smuggled into Paris, as 'La Ligue, ou Henri le Grand'. He was now famous and a favourite at court. He got into a quarrel with the Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot and circulated caustic epigrams about him; in the end he was once more thrown into the Bastille, and was freed only on condition that he would leave for England. There he remained for four years (1726-29), became acquainted with Alexander Pope and his circle, and familiarized himself with English literature. He was strongly attracted to John Locke's philosophy, and he mastered the elements of Isaac Newton's astronomical physics.

Back in France, he laid the foundation of his great wealth by purchasing shares in a government lottery and by speculating in the corn trade, ultimately increased by the profits from large army contracts. He formed an intimacy with Madame du Ch�telet-Lomont, and went to live with her at her husband's ch�teau of Cirey in Champagne (1734). Here he wrote dramas and poetry, several philosophical works, and scientific treatises. His correspondence (1740-50) testifies to a love affair with his niece, the widowed Madame Denis. His Princesse de Navarre, performed on the occasion of the Dauphin's marriage (February 1745), pleased Louis XV by its clever adulation; this and the patronage of Madame de Pompadour secured Voltaire appointments as official royal historian and gentleman-in-ordinary to the king.

In 1750 Voltaire went to Berlin at the invitation of Frederick II, the Great; he was appointed king's chamberlain with a pension of 20,000 francs and board in one of the royal palaces. There he caused offence with his satirical criticisms of Pierre de Maupertuis in Microm�gas, and in March 1753 Frederick and Voltaire parted, never to meet again. He settled in 1755 near Geneva and after 1758 at Ferney, four miles away. There he wrote his satirical short story Candide, his best-known work.

In 1762 Voltaire published the first of his anti-religious writings which were to include didactic tragedies, biased histories, pamphlets and the Dictionnaire philosophique (1764). He became involved in the affair surrounding the judicial murder (1762) of Jean Calas, who had been falsely accused of killing one of his sons to keep him from becoming a Catholic. Voltaire was successful in establishing his innocence and in rescuing members of the Calas family from further punishment. This and similar efforts on behalf of victims of French fanaticism, for whom he provided a refuge at Ferney, won widespread admiration.

In 1778, in his eighty-fourth year, he was welcomed back in Paris to stage his last tragedy, Ir�ne. The excitement of this brought on illness and his death. After the Revolution, which his works and ideas helped to foster, his remains were reinterred in the Panth�on in Paris.

Bibliography: Principal works

Dramas: ?dipe ('Oedipus'); Mahomet (1741, Eng trans Mohamet the Imposter, 1744) and M�rope (1743, Eng trans 1744); Princesse de Navarre (1745); Ir�ne (1778).

Poetry: La Ligue ou Henri le Grand (Eng trans Henriade, dedicated to Queen Caroline of Ansbach during his English visit, 1732); Po�me sur le d�sastre de Lisbonne (1756, 'Poem on the Lisbon Earthquake')

Philosophical tales: Lettres �crites de Londres sur les Anglais (1734, Eng trans Letters Concerning the English Nation, 1734); Zadig (1748, Eng trans Zadig and Other Stories, 1971); Candide (Eng trans Candid, 1759).

Historical and philosophical works: Trait� de m�taphysique (1748, 'Treatise on Metaphysics'); Si�cle de Louis Quatorze (1751, Eng trans The Age of Louis XIV, 1752) and Les M?urs et l'esprit des nations (1756, rev 1761-63, Eng trans The General History and State of Europe, 1756); Dictionnaire philosophique portatif (1764, Eng trans The Philosophical Dictionary for the Pocket, 1765)

Scientific works: El�ments de la philosophie de Newton (1738, Eng trans The Elements of Newton's Philosophy, 1738).

Bibliography: P Gay, Voltaire's Politics: The Poet as Realist (1988); N Mitford, Voltaire in Love (1957); S G Tallentyre, Voltaire (1903).