François-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit and his criticism of Christianity and of slavery, Vol
Portrait by Nicolas de Largillière, c. 1720s
Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille from 16 May 1717 to 15 April 1718 in a windowless cell with ten-foot-thick walls.
In the frontispiece to Voltaire's book on Newton's philosophy, Émilie du Châtelet appears as Voltaire's muse, reflecting Newton's heavenly insights down to Voltaire.
Pastel by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, 1735
The Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason or simply the Enlightenment, was a period of intellectual and cultural flourishing in Europe and Western civilization, emerging in the late 17
Voltaire
…François-Marie Arouet (French: ; 21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), known by his pen name Voltaire (, US also ; French: ), was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher (philosophe), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit and his criticism of Christianity (especially of the Catholic Church) and…
In the Salon of Madame Geoffrin in 1755. Reading of Voltaire's tragedy, The Orphan of China, in the salon of Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier, c. 1812
English philosopher Francis Bacon's work is considered foundational to the Enlightenment
René Descartes, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science
German philosopher Immanuel Kant, one of the most influential figures of Enlightenment and modern philosophy