Death of Voltaire

Voltaire died on 30 May 1778 in Paris, aged 83. A French writer, historian and philosopher of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, whose real name was François-Marie Arouet, wrote plays, poems, histories and the satirical novella Candide in 1759. He was imprisoned in the Bastille and spent years in exile in England, where he admired the freedom of thought, and later at Ferney near the Swiss border. He championed religious tolerance, freedom of speech and justice, notably in the Calas affair, in which he defended a Protestant who had been wrongly executed. He also had a long relationship with the scientist Émilie du Châtelet. His wit made him one of the most influential figures of his time.

Open on the timeline