| Authorised form of name | Voltaire; Francois Marie Arouet de (1694 - 1778) |
| Other forms of name | Francois Marie Aroyet de |
| Francois Marie Aroyet |
| Arouet |
| Other forms of surname | de Voltaire |
| Dates | 1694 - 1778 |
| Nationality | French |
| Place of birth | Paris, France |
| Date of birth | 21 November 1694 |
| Place of death | Paris, France |
| Date of death | 30 May 1778 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Pantheon, Paris |
| Research field | Literature |
| Activity | Education:
College Louis-le-Grand
Career:
In the suite of the Marquis de Chateauneuf, French Ambassador to Holland, but was sent home in disgrace; began to write satire and was banished from Paris; imprisoned in the Bastille, after which he changed his name to Voltaire; had to leave France and went to England (1726); returned to France and lived with Gabrielle Emilie Marquise du Chatelet-Lomont (1734-1747); went to Berlin as Chamberlain to Frederick the Great (1750-1753); settled near Geneva (1758) and farmed, reclaimed waste land, and bred horses as well as writing; wrote 'Candide', one of the first works to suggest a rational explanation for catalstrophes hitherto regarded as the works of an angry deity, such as the 1755 earthquake which destroyed Lisbon; visited Paris, but the excitement and fatigue brought on illness of which he died (1778)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 03/11/1743 |
| Relationships | Son of Francois Arouet, notary, and his wife Marie Marguerite Daumont; the name Voltaire was an anagram of Arouet le jeune, or Arovet l i |
| OtherInfo | Elected FRS while countries at war (War of the Austrian Succession) |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DSB
References:
Milo Keynes, 'The Personality of Isaac Newton' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 1-56
W Johnson, 'Voltaire After 300 Years' in NR 1994 vol 48 pp 215-220, plate
W Johnson, 'Newtonianism Pour la France', review of Robert L Walters and W H Barber, eds, Elements de la Philosophie de Newton, by Voltaire, in NR 1993 vol 47 pp 313-315, plate
P Casini, 'Newton's Principia and the Philosophers of the Enlightenment' in NR 1988 vol 42 pp 35-52
G R de Beer, 'John Morgan's Visit to Voltaire' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 148-158
D McKie and G R de Beer, 'Newton's Apple - an Addendum' in NR 1952 vol 9 pp 333-335
M Bailey Ogilvie, 'In her place. Pandora's breeches: women, science and power in the enlightenment, by P Fara' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 314-315
G R de Beer, 'The relations between Fellows of the Royal Society and French Men of Science when France and Britain were at war' in NR 1952, pp244-299
J P Zinsser, 'Mentors, the marquise Du Chatelet and historical memory' in NR 2007 vol 61 pp 89-108J P Zinsser, 'Mentors, the marquise Du Chatelet and historical memory' in NR 2007 vol 61 pp 89-108
J S Rowlinson, 'John Freind: physician, chemist, Jacobite, and friend of Voltaire's' in NR 2007 vol 61 pp 109-127
Notes:
Pogg gives date of birth as 20 February 1694. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/36925746 |
| Code | NA8020 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| IM/004745 | Voltaire, Francois Marie Aroyet de | nd |
| MM/16/41 | Letter from Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, Paris, to Martin Folkes | 29 March 1743 |
| MM/16/18 | Note describing a small collection of letters addressed to James Jurin, Secretary of the Royal Society | 1878 |
| MM/15/10 | Copy of a letter from Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, Paris, to Martin Folkes | 29 November 1743 |
| MC/10/116 | Letter from William Raynbird, Hengrave, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, to the Royal Society | 2 June 1874 |
| NLB/17/219 | Copy letter from Theodore E James, to Jean Jules Jusserand, 60 Avenue Marceau, Paris | 7 September 1898 |
| M/231 | Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet de | |
| EC/1743/07 | Voltaire, Francois Marie Aroyet de: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 3 November 1743 |
| MC/10/109 | Letter from William Raynbird, Hengrave, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, to the Secretary of the Royal Society | 15 May 1874 |
| MC/10 | Volume 10 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | July 1873-1876 |