Voltaire
1694 - 1778

"I did a little bit of good; it’s my best work." (Épitres CXXI, à Horace)

Voltaire, a poet, an historian, a philosopher and an author, was above all a "committed" intellectual.

He was committed in his written work but also prepared to take to the streets in order to defend his standpoints, becoming a genuine philosophical militant.

He never ceased to struggle against injustice, making use of his mind and pen to embody an authentic "European conscience". He remains a noteworthy representative of the Enlightenment.

His most famous work is "Candide".

And Geneva?

Having been banned from the Prussian kingdom, he took up quarters in Geneva in 1755 where he had acquired a property in the Saint-Jean district, which he named "Les Délices" (the Delights).

There, he entertained the most distinguished members of Geneva’s society and even intervened in the policital strifes between the "Représentants” and the "Natifs".

However, in 1760, he was no longer permitted to stage the plays he had written and left Saint-Jean for a castle in Ferney (France).

He was to spend several years there, all in continuing to exert much influence on Geneva’s middle class and the workers of the "Fabrique" (near Sécheron).

To see:

• Voltaire Institute and Museum (Villa des Délices), rue des Délices 25. A commemorative tablet marks the building
• A furnished parlor dedicated to Voltaire, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, rue Charles-Galland 2
• Castel de Tournay, Pregny-Chambesy (private)
• Castel de Voltaire, Ferney-Voltaire (France)
• Rue Voltaire

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