Voltaire

On 30 May 1778, a man named François-Marie Arouet died in Paris. We know him as Voltaire! The Philosopher who alongside other great thinkers of his time like Rousseau, changed the world with their forward thinking.

Advocating ideas of freedom of speech at a time when the Catholic Church was still prominent and powerful and could demand from the King censorship of writings that challenged their views. Advocating ideas of freedom of religion at a time when in France, you could choose between being Catholic or being Catholic, or being Catholic…

Voltaire died 11 years too early to see the French Revolution take place, but revolutionaries honoured him by burying him at the Panthéon. His epitaph reads: "He fought against atheists and fanatics. He inspired tolerance. He promoted human rights against the servitude of feudalism". "He was a poet, historian and philosopher. He broadened human mind and taught them how to be free."

On Quai Voltaire in Paris, you can see a plaque indicating where he died.