Voltaire

Solomona Aigamaua

Assignment 5

The question for this writing assignment is who is Voltaire? Voltaire’s real name is Francis Marie Arouet. Francis Marie Arouet was born on November 21, 1694 in Paris. Voltaire’s intelligence, wit and style made him one of France’s greatest writers and philosophers.

The name "Voltaire", which the author adopted in 1718, is an anagram of "AROVET LI," the Latinized spelling of his surname, Arouet, and the initial letters of "le jeune" ("the young").[5] The name also echoes in reverse order the syllables of the name of a family château in the Poitou region: "Airvault". The adoption of the name "Voltaire" following his incarceration at the Bastille is seen by many to mark Voltaire's formal separation from his family and his past.(Wikipedia2013)

Young Francois Marie received his education at “Louis-le-Grand,” a Jesuit college in Paris where he said he learned nothing but “Latin and the Stupidities.” He left school at 17 and soon made friends among the Parisian aristocrats. His humorous verses made him a favorite in society circles. In 1717, his sharp wit got him into trouble with the authorities. He was imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months for writing a scathing satire of the French government. During his time in prison Francois Marie wrote “Oedipe” which was to become his first theatrical success, and also adopted his pen name “Voltaire.”

Voltaire returned to a hero’s welcome in Paris at age 83. The excitement of the trip was too much for him and he died in Paris. Because of his criticism of the church Voltaire was denied burial in church ground. He was finally buried at an abbey in Champagne. In 1791, his remains were moved to a resting place at the Pantheon in Paris.

Throughout his 83 years of life, Voltaire wrote numerous philosophical works, works in history, plays, and is considered as, next to Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau and others, one of the greatest names of the French Enlightenment. He is known as a...