Famous for his wit and his criticism of Christianity especially of the Roman Catholic Church and of slavery , Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech , freedom of religion , and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays , poems, novels, essays, histories, and even scientific expositions.
He wrote more than 20, letters and 2, books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties and was at constant risk from the strict censorship laws of the Catholic French monarchy.
His polemics witheringly satirized intolerance and religious dogma , as well as the French institutions of his day.
His best-known work and magnum opus , Candide , is a novella that comments on, criticizes, and ridicules many events, thinkers and philosophies of his time, most notably Gottfried Leibniz and his belief that our world is of necessity the "best of all possible worlds".
By the time he left school, Voltaire had decided he wanted to be a writer, against the wishes of his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer. When his father found out, he sent Voltaire to study law, this time in Caen , Normandy.
