Voltaire

Voltaire Historical Figure Nationality: France Date of Birth: 1694 Date of Death: 1778 Cause of Death: Possibly prostate cancer Religion: Deism, originally Catholicism Occupation: Philosopher, Playwright, Poet, Author of Fiction, Author of Non-Fiction, Satirist Fictional Appearances: "Shtetl Days" POD: c. 1940 Type of Appearance: Posthumous reference Atlantis POD: c 85,000,000 BCE; Relevant POD: 1452 Appearance(s): The United States of Atlantis Type of Appearance: Contemporary references

François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.

He was an outspoken supporter of social reform. He frequently made use of his works to criticize the Catholic Church and certain French institutions of his day.

Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.

Voltaire's theatrical plays are often regarded as being the weakest of his writings, and were rarely performed in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Voltaire in "Shtetl Days"

As a friend of Friedrich the Great, who was in turn a personal hero of Adolf Hitler, Voltaire enjoyed a glowing reputation before and after Nazi Germany's victory in the War of Retribution. Veit Harlan had performed in a few of Voltaire's plays.

Voltaire in Atlantis

Custis Cawthorne quoted Voltaire's epitaph for the executed Admiral Byng at a meeting of the Atlantean Assembly in its capital in New Hastings soon after the outbreak of the Atlantean War of Independence. In response, Michel du Guesclin, a French-Atlantean, asked Cawthorne not to speak to him of Voltaire, who didn't mesh well with the Catholic Church.

General Victor Radcliff, in conversation with Sergeant Blaise Black, quoted Cawthorne quoting the same epitaph ("Pour encourager les autres") when explaining what would become of the Nouveau Redon quartermasters if they should prove negligent in their duties. Marquis de La Fayette was also familiar with this saying from his countryman.

Nineteenth-century English medical doctor James Walton was familiar with Voltaire's novel Candide.

See also

• Literary Allusions in Turtledove's Work, for minor references in other works.