Famous for his wit and his criticism of Christianity (especially of the Catholic Church) and of slavery, Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.

Jan 10, 2026 · Voltaire, one of the greatest French writers, best known for his philosophical fantasy Candide (1759). Through its critical capacity, wit, and satire, Voltaire’s work vigorously propagates …

Nov 23, 2023 · Voltaire (1694-1778) was a French author, historian, and philosopher whose thoughts on religious toleration and moderation of authoritarian power were influential during the Enlightenment.

Nov 21, 2014 · Learn 10 things you may not know about one of the 18th century’s most quotable and controversial thinkers. 1. The origins of his famous pen name are unclear. Voltaire had a strained …

Aug 31, 2009 · François-Marie d’Arouet (1694–1778), better known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French writer and public activist who played a singular role in defining the eighteenth-century …

Read Voltaire's novels, short stories, and poems free online. Biography, full texts, and study resources at American Literature.

Aug 9, 2023 · Author of the satirical novella 'Candide,' Voltaire is widely considered one of France's greatest Enlightenment writers.

Voltaire was a revolutionary thinker who pushed for freedom of expression and freedom of religion. He did not think that it was right for the state to tell its people what religion was right, and what to believe.

Voltaire's literary productivity did not slow down, although his concerns shifted as the years passed while at his estate in Ferney, France. He was best known as a poet until in 1751 Le Siècle de Louis XIV …

Who was Voltaire? ... François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), known as Voltaire, was a writer, philosopher, poet, dramatist, historian and polemicist of the French Enlightenment.