Voltaire

Voltaire (E. Abbott)

Some may call me Francois-Marie Arouet, but most know me as Voltaire. I started off being born into a family of five, me being the youngest. I was brought into this world in 1694 and only lasted 83 years. I grew up in Paris, France my whole like and even died there. I loved it. I spent my college years at College Lous-le-Grand and really found myself there. I didn't always have it easy though, in 1725 I was arrested in Britain for an insult exchange with a French nobleman and spent three years in the slammer. I had a lot of time to think about the country's freedom of speech and their ways of going about things like that. After I got out of the slammer I went back to my hometown in Paris and found myself a wife. Emilie du Chatelet. That only lasted for about 15 years but that's not why most people know me.  People know me from the French Enlightenment though, being a philosopher and defending what I believe in. Some even consider me one of the best minds of the French Enlightenment. I defended religious freedom, that was a big pet peeve of mine, how people couldn't even believe in their own gods freely. I also defended free trade as well as civil liberties, and social reform. These are just a few of the things I may be considered significant for. At least nowadays.