The Life and Work of Voltaire

Voltaire lived about 250 years ago and is best remembered as a man who did not surrender his principles, in spite of his enemies, many of whom were influential and powerful.  He was against organized religions or Churches, and maintained that government’s main duty  is to grant every man’s right to personal liberty, property and protection by law.   He was called Arouet le jeune, meaning “Arouet Jr.,” and he rearranged the letters of his name to spell Voltaire.  In the French language of that period, , the letter “u” was the same as the letter, “v” and the letter, “j” was the same as the letter ”i.”

Voltaire was born in 1694 near Paris, France.  He was schooled among Jesuit priests and developed his ability to write at an early age.  He was always criticized, for the reason that he poked fun at things that were considered serious.

After his graduation,  he traveled to the Hague as secretary to the French ambassador to Holland.  After his return to Paris, he was known as a brilliant but sarcastic wit, due to the fact that among others, he lampooned the French Regent, Phillippe II, Duke of Orleans, accusing him of heinous crimes, for which he was incarcerated in the Bastille for almost a year.   While he was in prison,  he wrote his first play, titled Oedipus.  He continued to write on serious topics of interest.  He wrote an epic poem on Henry IV of France. A few years later, he was again put in prison for three years.  

While in England, he was exceedingly impressed by English thinking and social conditions, as incorporated in his book titled,  Letters Concerning the English Nation.  This resulted in yet another scandal, as the book criticized France and its conditions.

Voltaire continued to air his anti-Christian views and deistic creed.   In 1750, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, invited him to his court in Berlin. He stayed there for three years until he quarreled with Frederick.  At this time, he finished writing a historical work, titled The Time of Louis XIV.  Shortly thereafter, he went to Geneva, Switzerland, where he lived for the rest of his life.  It should be remembered that Voltaire’s ideas had partially contributed to the start of the French Revolution, eleven years after his death in 1778, at the age of 84.

Voltaire’s writings include plays, histories, essays, short novels, as well as a Philosophical Dictionary. Candide and Zadig are considered to be two of his best novels, as well as his plays, titled Brutus, Zaire, and Merope, and his historical works such as Charles XII and Essay on Manners.