Author · France
Voltaire
Died in 1778
François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris on 21 November 1694, the son of a notary, and was a pupil of the Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand. His satirical verses led him to the Bastille in 1717; after a quarrel with the Chevalier de Rohan, he was imprisoned again, then exiled to England from 1726 to 1728. He later lived at Cirey with Émilie du Châtelet, joined Frederick II at Potsdam in 1750, then settled at Ferney, from where he defended Calas and other victims of intolerance. He died in Paris on 30 May 1778.