D'après nicolas de largillière, portrait de voltaire (institut et musée voltaire) 001

Voltaire

By Grant Horvath
  • François-Marie Arouet is Born

    François-Marie Arouet is Born

  • Enrolled in the Jesuit Louis-le-Grand school in Paris

    Enrolled in the Jesuit Louis-le-Grand school in Paris

  • Sent to Holland as secretary to Marquis de Châteauneuf, French ambassador

    Sent to Holland as secretary to Marquis de Châteauneuf, French ambassador

  • Death of Louis XIV of France

    Death of Louis XIV of France

  • Period: to

    Imprisoned in the Bastille

  • Debut play, Oedipe, is a theatrical success

    Debut play, Oedipe, is a theatrical success

  • Adopts the name of Voltaire

    Adopts the name of Voltaire

  • Published La Henriade

    Published La Henriade

  • Beaten by Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot after insult

    Beaten by Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot after insult

  • Second imprisonment in the Bastille

    Second imprisonment in the Bastille

  • Exiled to England

    Exiled to England

  • Return to France

    Return to France

  • Meets Émilie du Châtelet

    Meets Émilie du Châtelet

  • Publication of Zaire

    Publication of Zaire

  • Publication of Lettres philosophiques

    Publication of Lettres philosophiques

  • Correspondence with Frederick the Great

    Correspondence with Frederick the Great

  • Moves to Holland

    Moves to Holland

  • Period: to

    Living in Brussels

  • Meets Frederick II, now King

    Meets Frederick II, now King

  • War of Austrian Succession

    War of Austrian Succession

  • Sent by French government to spy in Frederick's court

    Sent by French government to spy in Frederick's court

    Placed in Frederick the Great's court in 1743, Voltaire would act as an envoy and secretly, spy, to determine Frederick's intentions in the War of Austrian Succession
  • Death of Émilie du Châtelet

    Death of Émilie du Châtelet

  • Moves to Prussia, chamberlain at Frederick's court

    Moves to Prussia, chamberlain at Frederick's court

  • Leaves court after argument with Frederick

  • Louis XV bans Voltaire from Paris, moves to Geneva

    Louis XV bans Voltaire from Paris, moves to Geneva

  • Seven Years War

    Seven Years War

  • Buys estate in Ferney, France

    Buys estate in Ferney, France

  • Publication of Candide

    Publication of Candide

  • Champion for Huguenot Jean Calas

    Champion for Huguenot Jean Calas

    Tortured to death after an unjust persecution, Jean Calas was accused of murdering his eldest son for converting to Catholicism
  • Publication of Dictionnaire philosophique

    Publication of Dictionnaire philosophique

  • Overturned conviction for Jean Calas

    Overturned conviction for Jean Calas

    Voltaire was able to argue religious persecution for Jean Calas and posthumously overturn the conviction
  • Death of Louis XV

    Death of Louis XV

  • Return to Paris

    Return to Paris

  • Initiated into Freemasonry

    Initiated into Freemasonry

  • Voltaire dies in Paris following illness

    Voltaire dies in Paris following illness