OLL’s November Birthday: Voltaire (November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778)

November’s OLL Birthday Essay is in honor of François Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire. A playwright, poet, historian, philosopher, and satirist, Voltaire literally defined the Age of Enlightenment, sometimes called simply the Age of Voltaire. Throughout his life, he was an indefatigable foe of all forms of tyranny and oppression, and a champion of free expression and freedom of religion.