Facts about Voltaire

1. 08

   Voltaire's 1763 treatise on tolerance was directly inspired by the 1762 judicial execution of Jean Calas, a Protestant merchant falsely convicted of murdering his own son.

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2. 07

   Candide, Voltaire's 1759 satirical novella, was written in just three weeks and became one of the most frequently translated works of the 18th century.

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3. 06

   During the 1755 Lisbon earthquake that killed approximately 30,000 people, Voltaire's philosophical poem criticizing Leibniz's optimism became his most famous work and sparked a decades-long debate about suffering and divine providence.

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4. 05

   Voltaire's financial acumen allowed him to accumulate a fortune of approximately 500,000 livres by speculating on government lotteries and military provisions during the 1720s and 1730s.

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5. 04

   At age 84, Voltaire returned to Paris in 1778 after nearly 28 years of exile, drawing crowds of thousands who celebrated him as a symbol of enlightenment thought.

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6. 03

   Over 21,000 letters written by Voltaire survive today, making him one of history's most prolific correspondents and providing invaluable documentation of 18th-century intellectual life.

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7. 02

   Voltaire spent nearly 12 years imprisoned or exiled between 1717 and 1729 for his satirical writings critical of French nobility and the regent.

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8. 01

   In 1694, François-Marie Arouet was born in Paris, later adopting the pen name Voltaire to escape his family's disapproval of his writing career.

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