THE FIRST

PERSON WHO

SAY: WE ARE

EQUALS!VOLTAIREVOLTAIRE

HELLO NEW FRIENDS!

Good morning little friends! I think that, if you have started to study one of the most important parts of history like is the ENLIGHTENMENT, you will probably know who I am, but, just in case, for the people who don’t know me, I am Voltaire Blackmouth (François-Marie Arouet ; Voltaire) and I am going to tell you some details about my life, some events that I did, and some things that I think. Are you ready?

WELCOME TO MY LIFE!

MY LIFEI was born on 21 November in 1694, in Paris and I am the youngest of the five children. My parents were François Arouet, a notary who was a minor treasury official and Marie Marguerite d'Aumary, from a noble family of the province of Poitou. I was educated by Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, where I learned Latin and Greek; later in life I became fluent in Italian, Spanish and English.

I had decided to be a writer, against the wishes of my father who wanted me to become a notary.And I think that maybe, I don’t know exactly and I don’t know how I can know it, I will die on 30 May, in 1778.

And now, you probably are thinking, ok… and, what happens? Why are you here with us? Ok, no problem, I am going to explain you who I am and why I am a little important in history.

HISTORY AND MEI am one of the principal representatives of the Enlightenment, a period that emphasized the power of the human reason, of the science and the respect towards the humanity.In 1746 I was elected a member of the French Academy.I also am a prolific writer and I have produced works in almost every literary form including poetry and other activities. I really had a lot of exist documents of the literature’s world.

I am an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, I frequently make use of my works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma and the French institutions of my day.I am one of several Enlightenment figures (with my friends Montesquieu, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions. I’ve always defended the freedom of thought, the tolerance and the justice.

Society: Say something!

But the most important event is that I've defended the necessity of the existence of a parliament to limit the king’s power. And I've also defended the existence of a fiscal system. In other words:

I think that the parliament must have more importance in the decisions of the town; not only the king has to say the “last word”. I think that the society also have to express an opinion about the decisions and these decisions must be taken into account.

Hey, I’m the same person than you!

I also think that everybody have to pay the same taxes, independently of the social class that anybody could have. We are equals! Why some of us have to pay more taxes than the rest of the people? Why peasants have to pay more than nobility?I am a noble, and I should pay the same as anyone!

GOOD BYE AND THANK YOU!

Ok, so… thank you very much for listening to myself, nice to meet you, and I hope will see you many many many years later where I live now!And please…

BE HAPPY!