Voltaire

About Voltaire

Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), was a towering figure of the French Enlightenment, celebrated globally for his biting wit, advocacy for civil liberties, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. As a writer, his prolific output spanned drama, poetry, history, and philosophical letters, most famously his philosophical novel *Candide*. His relentless critiques of established power and superstition cemented his position, earning him the #129 ranking in historical importance according to MIT's Pantheon project.

In the digital age of 2025, Voltaire registers approximately 1.1 million annualized Wikipedia views. This places his modern internet attention at roughly equivalent to his historical weight, indicated by his 1x Attention Gap score. For context among his fellow writers, this level of attention is noticeably lower than contemporary figures like Anne Frank (#396 importance) who garnered 2.6M views, or Ernest Hemingway (#425 importance) with 2.9M views, suggesting a relative lag in digital engagement for this essential Enlightenment thinker.

His momentum data shows a slight cooling of current interest, with the 2025 momentum falling by 12% from Q1 to Q3, suggesting that while his historical rank remains high, his current online traction is somewhat stagnant, showing a -0.1% year-over-year change.