François-Marie Arouet (French:; 21 November 1694 – 30 Mey 1778), kent bi his nom de plume Voltaire (; French:), wis a French Enlichtenment writer, historian, an philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Kirk, an his advocacy o freedom o religion, freedom o expression, an separation o kirk an state.
Voltaire wis a versatile writer, producin warks in awmaist every literary form, includin plays, poems, novelles, essays, an historical an scientific warks. He wrote mair nor 20,000 letters an mair nor 2,000 beuks an pamphlets. He wis an ootspoken advocate o ceevil liberties, despite the risk this placed him in unner the strict censorship laws o the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made uise o his warks tae criticise intolerance, religious dogma, an the French institutions o his day.
