ANCIENT&
not so ancient
WISDOM
offering a weekly positive perspective
November
18, 2004
Doubt
is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.
- Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire) (1694 - 1778)
Francois
Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire) was born on November 21,
1694 in Paris. He attended Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit college
in Paris. His humorous verses made him a favorite with
Parisian aristocrats, until 1717, when his satire of the
French government landed him in the Bastille Prison for
eleven months. During his time in prison, he adopted his pen
name “Voltaire” and wrote "Oedipe" which
become his first theatrical success.
In
1726, Voltaire insulted the nobleman Chevalier De Rohan and
was given the option of imprisonment or exile. He chose
exile and from 1726 to 1729 lived in England.
In
England, Voltaire was attracted to the philosophy of John
Locke, and the science and math ideas of Sir Isaac Newton.
He studied philosophical rationalism, natural sciences,
politics, and religion. He returned to Paris and wrote
Lettres Philosophiques praising English customs and
institutions. The French government viewed it as further
criticism and in 1734, he was forced to leave Paris again.
He
moved to Luneville in eastern France and studied natural
sciences with Emilie du Chatelet. In 1746, Voltaire
was voted into the Academie Francaise and in 1749 with the
death of Emilie, he moved to Potsdam (near Berlin in
Germany) at the invitation of Frederick the Great, King of
Prussia. He returned to France in 1753 and purchased an
estate Ferney in 1759 near the French-Swiss border where he
lived until 1778. During this time, Voltaire produced a
constant flow of books, plays and other publications. He
wrote hundreds of letters and was an outspoken critic of
intolerance and persecution.
In
1778, he died while returning to Paris at the age of 83. As
a critic of the church, he was denied burial in church
grounds and was buried at an abbey in Champagne, minus his
heart and brains. In 1791, his remains were moved to the
Pantheon in Paris until, in 1814, a group of the religious
right removed the remains and dumped them in a garbage heap.
His
heart lies in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris while his
brains disappeared after an auction. Even in death, nothing
for Voltaire was certain.
Wishing
you great success in an uncertain world.
Sincerely,
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