♦ Brief Bio of Voltaire and Intro to Candide
Voltaire linked his study of history with the fact that he had endured much suffering in his own lifetime and concluded that there is no such thing as Divine Intervention in human affairs.
Who Was Voltaire?
Francois-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), a French Enlightenment writer, who later took the name of Voltaire, was once hailed as “the wittiest writer in an age of great wits”. He was Jesuit-educated and started composing witty verses at the tender age of 12. He is a well-known personality and there is a wealth of information about his life and career as a writer on the Internet and in the public libraries. Some interesting facts about him?
Well, for one thing, he believed in vampires!
Also, he was once imprisoned in the Bastille but negotiated with the authorities to be exiled to England as an alternative punishment.
Last but not least, fourteen letters were discovered in U.S. libraries which shed light on Voltaire when he was a young man. The missives are being studied by scholars who intend to produce a definitive collection of all of Voltaire’s writings by the year 2018 (and beyond).
