Voltaire

Table of Contents

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Discover how Voltaire might present Candide and discuss the Age of Enlightenment

title page of Voltaire's Candide

early printing of Voltaire's Candide

early printing of Voltaire's Candide

Pigalle, Jean-Baptiste: bust of Voltaire

For Students

Voltaire summary

Read Next

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Britannica's Book Bingo. Take our reading challenge! Books range form greatest, banned, and counterculture.

Britannica’s Book Bingo

Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales.

10 Captivating Contemporary Novels Set in the British Isles

Battle of Fleurus (June 16, 1794), the most significant battle in the First Coalition phase of the French Revolutionary Wars; by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse, 19th century.

What Led to France’s Reign of Terror?

Girl Reading On Turquoise Couch

9 American Countercultural Books

Discover

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

Solar eclipse of the sun.

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

Black widow spider

9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C. c. 1921-1923. Physicist

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Science Celebrity

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

Person paying with a credit card using a credit card terminal. Cashless payment, credit card reader

What Is a Cashless Society and How Does It Work?

Voltaire: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	François-Marie Arouet
Born	November 21, 1694 • Paris • France
Died	May 30, 1778 (aged 83) • Paris • France
Notable Works	“Adélaïde du Guesclin” • “Alzire” • “An Essay on Universal History, the Manners and Spirit of Nations from the Reign of Charlemaign to the Age of Lewis XIV” • “Brutus” • “Candide” • “Diatribe du docteur Akakia” • “Éléments de la philosophie de Newton” • “L’Histoire de Charles XII” • “L’Orphelin de la Chine” • “La Henriade” • “La Prude” • “Letters on England” • “Lettre à l’Académie” • “Mahomet” • “Memnon” • “Mérope” • “Micromégas” • “Nanine” • “Oedipe” • “The Age of Louis XIV” • “The Tragedy of Zara” • “Vision de Babouc” • “Zadig”
Role In	Enlightenment

Photos and Videos

title page of Voltaire's Candide

early printing of Voltaire's Candide

early printing of Voltaire's Candide

Pigalle, Jean-Baptiste: bust of Voltaire

Discover how Voltaire might present Candide and discuss the Age of Enlightenment

See All Videos and Images →

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

historiography: Montesquieu and Voltaire

August Strindberg

August Strindberg

Swedish dramatist

Marivaux, Pierre

Pierre Marivaux

French author

Dimitry Levitzky: portrait of Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot

French philosopher

Gogol, Nikolay

Nikolay Gogol

Ukrainian-born writer

Gutzkow

Karl Gutzkow

German writer

Octave Mirbeau

French author

Hervieu, Paul

Paul Hervieu

French author

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

English author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

German author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Swiss-born French philosopher

Mignard, Pierre: portrait of Molière

Molière

French dramatist

Jean Racine

Jean Racine

French dramatist

D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence

English writer

Aleksandr Pushkin

Aleksandr Pushkin

Russian author

George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw

Irish dramatist and critic

Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett

Irish author

Pierre Corneille

French poet and dramatist

John Dryden

John Dryden

British author

Vigny, lithograph by Antoine Maurin, 1832

Alfred-Victor, count de Vigny

French author

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre

French philosopher and author

Quiz

Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Circa 1963 publicity photo of Alfred Hitchcock director of The Birds (1963).

Who Said It? Essential Writers, Artists, and Scientists

Agathon (centre) greeting guests in Plato's Symposium, oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Philosophy 101