Voltaire

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Nicolas de Largillière · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

French Enlightenment writer

1694 – 1778 · 84 years · Paris · Europe

Leading voice of the Enlightenment who fought religious intolerance and championed free thought; author of Candide and correspondent of Catherine II.

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century

Portrait: Nicolas de Largillière · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Contemporaries around the world

Europe

Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 9 years older
Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 51 years older
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — German poet and thinker, 55 years younger
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Austrian composer, 62 years younger
Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 56 years older
Carl Linnaeus — Swedish naturalist, 13 years younger

Eastern Europe & Russia

Mikhail Lomonosov — Russian polymath, 17 years younger
Catherine the Great — Empress of Russia, 35 years younger
Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 22 years older
Leonhard Euler — Swiss mathematician, 13 years younger
Elizabeth — empress who founded Moscow University, 15 years younger
Alexander Suvorov — Russian generalissimo, 36 years younger

Middle East

Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 6 years older
Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 21 years older
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab — Islamic religious reformer, 9 years younger
Mahmud I — sultan who regained Belgrade by the 1739 peace, 2 years younger
Osman III — sultan who spent 50 years in the 'cage', 5 years younger
Mustafa III — sultan who lost the war to Catherine II, 23 years younger

Africa

Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 49 years older
Usman dan Fodio — founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, 60 years younger
Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 34 years older
Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 10 years older

Asia

Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 40 years older
Qianlong Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 17 years younger
Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, 10 years older
Tipu Sultan — ruler of Mysore, 57 years younger
Katsushika Hokusai — Japanese artist, 66 years younger
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 48 years older

Americas

Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 12 years younger
George Washington — first President of the United States, 38 years younger
Túpac Amaru II — leader of an Andean uprising, 44 years younger
Thomas Jefferson — third President of the United States, 49 years younger
Toussaint Louverture — leader of the Haitian Revolution, 49 years younger
Andrew Jackson — 7th US president, the Trail of Tears and the Jacksonian era, 73 years younger

Oceania

James Cook — British navigator, 34 years younger
Tupaia — Tahitian navigator and priest, 31 years younger
Kamehameha I — first King of Hawaii, 64 years younger
Arthur Phillip — first Governor of New South Wales, 44 years younger
Bennelong — Aboriginal intermediary, 70 years younger

The world in their lifetime

1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 9, Eastern Europe & Russia
1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 15, Eastern Europe & Russia
1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire — aged 27, Eastern Europe & Russia
1747 Ahmad Shah Durrani founds the Afghan state — aged 53, Middle East
1755 Lisbon earthquake — aged 61, Europe
1756–1763 Seven Years' War — aged 62, Europe
1757 Battle of Plassey — aged 63, Asia
c. 1760 Start of the Industrial Revolution — aged 66, Europe
1762 Accession of Catherine the Great — aged 68, Eastern Europe & Russia
1764 Founding of the Hermitage — aged 70, Eastern Europe & Russia
1768–1771 Cook's first voyage — aged 74, Oceania
c. 1768 Extinction of Steller's sea cow — aged 74, Eastern Europe & Russia
1769 Watt's steam engine — aged 75, Europe
1772–1795 Partitions of Poland — aged 78, Eastern Europe & Russia
1776 US Declaration of Independence — aged 82, Americas