France: Portrait of Voltaire (1694-1778), French philosopher and writer, engraving by Jean-Michel Moreau (1741-1814), 1846

Francois-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778), more commonly known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment historian, philosopher and writer. He was famous for his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and separation of church and state, often attacking the Catholic Church through his wit and writings.

Voltaire was a prolific and versatile writer, with more than 20,000 letters and over 2,000 books and pamphlets to his name, as well as plays, poems, essays and historical and scientific works. Despite the strict censorship laws of the time, Voltaire often spoke up in favour of civil liberties, and regularly used satire to criticise intolerance, religious dogma and other pillars of French institutions of his day.

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