{"id":99181,"date":"2019-11-21T10:50:56","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T17:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geni.com\/blog\/?p=99181"},"modified":"2019-11-21T10:44:53","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T17:44:53","slug":"profile-of-the-day-voltaire-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geni.com\/blog\/profile-of-the-day-voltaire-3-99181.html","title":{"rendered":"Profile of the Day: Voltaire"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this day in 1694, French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire<\/a> was born. Considered one of France’s greatest writers, Voltaire’s\u00a0advocacy of civil liberties and social reform\u00a0would go on to influence the thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.<\/p>\n

\"Profile<\/a><\/p>\n

Image: Voltaire \/ New York Public Library<\/em><\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois-Marie Arouet was the youngest of five children born to Fran\u00e7ois Arouet and Marie Marguerite Daumard. In 1718, he adopted the name “Voltaire,” which was\u00a0an anagram of Arovet Li<\/em>, the Latinized spelling of his name and the initial letters of le jeune\u00a0<\/i>(“the young”).<\/p>\n

Voltaire was a prolific writer, producing plays, poetry, novels, essays as well as historical and philosophical works. Well known for his wit and satire, Voltaire was a vocal advocate for freedom of religion and freedom of speech and was a strong critic of the church and government in his writings. His politically charged writings resulted in\u00a0his\u00a0imprisonment\u00a0twice and exile for a number of years. He died on May 30, 1778 at the age of 83 in Paris, France.<\/p>\n

Explore Voltaire’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the French Enlightenment writer.
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View Voltaire’s Geni Profile<\/a><\/h3>\n

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