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[[File:Voltaire.jpg|thumb|Voltaire]]

'''François-Marie Arouet''' (also known as '''Voltaire'''<ref>Origin of name is the [[anagram]] of "Aroueti".</ref>) was a [[France|French]] [[philosopher]]. He was born in 1694 and grew up in [[Poitou]]. He died in Paris in 1778.

Voltaire did not like France at the time because he thought that it was old fashioned. He also did not like the [[Church]] and thought that people should be allowed to believe what they want. However he did not like [[democracy]] either and thought that a country needed to be led by a wise and strong [[king]]. Voltaire had to live in [[exile]] in [[England]] for three years from 1726 to 1729 where these ideas were more common. He liked the philosophy of [[John Locke]].

Voltaire was also a writer. He wrote many [[book]]s, [[poem]]s and [[Play (theatre)|plays]], some of which are still liked today. A lot of his work was against France and the Church. This meant that he was unpopular at first but became more popular towards the time of the [[French Revolution]]. He also studied [[science]] and wrote a lot about people and places he knew. His writings later led to the French revolution, which changed France from a [[Hereditary monarchy|Hereditary Monarchy]] into a Republic. 

Voltaire believed in a [[God]] but did not believe in a God personally involved in people's lives, like the [[Christianity|Christian]] God. This is called [[Deism]].

== Note ==
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== Other websites ==
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* [http://www.bacdefrancais.net/ An analysis of Voltaire's texts (in the "textes" topic) (in French)]
* {{gutenberg author|Voltaire}}
* [http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volindex.html Voltaire's writings from Philosophical Dictionary]
* [http://societe-voltaire.org/ Société Voltaire]
* [http://www.harrymaugans.com/2006/03/30/voltaires-candide/ Voltaire's Candide and Leibniz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405172359/http://www.harrymaugans.com/2006/03/30/voltaires-candide/ |date=2012-04-05 }}
* [http://www.visitvoltaire.com/ VisitVoltaire.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205043521/http://www.visitvoltaire.com/ |date=2009-02-05 }}
* {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livres-audio-gratuits-mp3/tag/voltaire/ Voltaire, his work in audio version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230181107/http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livres-audio-gratuits-mp3/tag/voltaire |date=2010-12-30 }} [[File:Speaker Icon.svg|20px]]

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[[Category:1694 births]]
[[Category:1778 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century philosophers]]
[[Category:French deists]]
[[Category:French philosophers]]
[[Category:Pen names]]