VOLTAIRE, THE FREEDOM THINKER

Exceptional destinies

An episode from the series SECRETS OF HISTORY - PORTRAITS

Synopsis

Voltaire, became famous at the age of 24 with his play "Œdipus". A poet, historian, philosopher, he was the intellectual who best embodied the Age of Enlightenment.

He made superstitions and abuses of the Church the fight of his life. He defended a Protestant who was unjustly sentenced to death and whose name and honour he managed to restore. A passionate lover, Voltaire shared a loving and intellectual complicity with the Marquise Emilie du Châtelet.

He was also a genius critic. He had an ambiguous relationship with the monarchs of Europe, shaming and flattering them in turn. His irony and ferocity towards power earned him a few visits to the Bastille jail.