Famous French People by Robert Shepherd Vocabulary & pronunciation study by Fiona Kinloch © Retrouvez la traduction de certains mots à droite du texte La séparation des syllables est marquées par un point • Les syllabes accentuées sont en gras et soulignées*

Hello, this is Robert Shepherd and welcome to the latest instalment of

Famous French. Today we explore the life of one of France's greatest Enlightenment writers, philosophers and his•tor•i•ans: François- the Enlightenment (n.) les idéaux Marie Arouet. Better known by his nom de plume: Voltaire. Born in des Lumières on 21st November 1694, Voltaire was the youngest of five born into the family of François Arouet and Marie Marguerite Daumand. to pass away (exp.) mourir Voltaire's mother passed away when he was just seven years old - and it is un•der•stood that not long afterwards, he was in•tro•duced to philosophy by his godfather. However, Voltaire spoke openly about who is true inspiration was - John Locke, the English philosopher and disapproval (n.) désapprobation physician. In 1704, the young Voltaire already began to show promise as a writer during his classical education at the Jesuit secondary school Collége Louis-le-Grand in Paris. It was around this time he knew he wanted to be a writer, but his ambition was met with notary (n.) notaire disapproval from his father who wanted his son to become a notary. Not wanting to disappoint his father and yet wanting to stay true to himself, Voltaire pretended to be working as a notary assistant, while in reality he spent his time writing. Once his father found out, Voltaire was sent to study law.

Some time later Voltaire's father found him a job as the personal secretary to the French ambassador, based in the Netherlands, but he to be dragged back (vb.) être was dragged back to Paris after François discovered his son had fallen traîné en arrière in love with a French protestant refugee. As Voltaire grew older he developed a sharp wit and an equally sharp tongue, which would often a sharp wit (exp.) un esprit acéré land him in trouble. He also developed difficult relations with the author ities of the time through his critical views on religious to have a sharp tongue (exp.) intolerance, the Roman Catholic Church and the governmental avoir “la langue bien pendue” practices. Voltaire was punished with imprisonment and exile on numerous occasions. During one of his in•car•cer•a•tions, at the Bastille, he penned his first play entitled Œdipe, an adaptation of to pen (vb.) rédiger the King, by Sophocles. The play was a huge success and was later followed by a well-received epic poem he wrote called La Henriade.

It was also after time spent at the Bastille that François-Marie custodial sentence (exp.) une Arouet adopted the pen name Voltaire. Although there is no peine de prison evidence as to where the name came from, there are numerous theories. Some say it was a mixture of a Latinized anagram of his name and the initial letters of "le jeune”. The name-change was just one step in what was a colourful period in Voltaire's life. In 1725, he insulted the French nobleman Chevalier de Rohan and was again given a custodial sentence. However, due to the uncertainty as to the duration of Voltaire's bard (n.) poète sentence, he suggested his own punishment – exile to Britain. He was interested in the country's freedom of speech and religion, as well as the works of the bard William Shakespeare. The constitutional to appeal to (exp.) séduire monarchy also appealed to him, in stark contrast to the absolute monarchy of France. Voltaire spent three years in Britain, where he stark contrast (exp.) contraste penned a collection of essays called Lettres Philosophiques. They saisissant were released on his return to Paris – but they angered the French church and government so much that, once again, Voltaire fled, this to flee (vb.) fuire time settling in Lorraine for the next 15 years with his mistress, Émilie du Châtelet. He then started to visit Paris occasionally as of 1735, the year he was finally granted re-entry. to settle (vb.) s’établir In 1759, Voltaire wrote the crit•i•ca•lly-acclaimed novella, , about a young man who is indoctrinated in optimism. to be granted (exp.) être autorisé However, it also enjoyed great scandal and was banned because, among other things, it contained religious blasphemy. Voltaire's major works fall into four categories: poetry, plays, historical and philosophical and by 1778 – the year of his death - public opinion was to bid farewell (exp.) dire adieu in his favour. Voltaire was regarded as a lit•er•a•ry genius and he returned to Paris a hero. So much so that it's generally accepted that he had an influence on both the French and American revolutions. the devil (n.) le démon Months before he died, the ailing Voltaire bid the crowd farewell at a production of his play Irene: to quip (vb.) ironiser "I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my en•e•mies and detesting superstition," he said. Another famous quote attributed to Voltaire came when he was on his deathbed. After a priest asked him to renounce the devil, Voltaire quipped, “Now is not the time for making new enemies." Voltaire died in his sleep on 30th May 1778, in Paris. Stay tuned to EnglishWaves.

*Aide à la prononciation ! L’accentuation des syllables aide à comprendre les mots. En connaissant l’accentuation d’un mot on peut aisément le reconnaitre à l’oreille et le comprendre, puis l’utiliser pour s’exprimer. Deux exemples avec les mots 'synonymous' et 'synonym'. Comptons les syllabes : 'syn•on•y•mous' a 4 syllabes 'syn•o•nym' a 3 syllabes

L’accentuation des syllables correspond a une prononciation plus forte, plus marquée. Exemples: synonymous s mais synonym