18th Cent. French writer’s life, career & contribution to historiography & its relationship to literature.
Voltaire, born Francois Marie Arouet, was born on November 21, 1694 in Paris, France. As a teenager, Voltaire attended a Jesuit college in Paris, Louis-le-Grand, where he said he learned nothing but Latin and the Stupidities. This statement will be the summation of Voltaire’s style of thinking. Voltaire left school at the age of seventeen and incorporated himself into the circle of Parisian aristocrats. Voltaire also became fluent in Spanish, English, and Italian; he even studied law for a couple of years. Voltaire became an immediate favorite among societal intellects and noblemen with his humorous verses. This would soon become his downfall. In 1717, Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months for writing a satire that demonized the French government.
