Voltaire Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his "nom de plume" Voltaire (; ), was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, 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 and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties, despite
French ship Héros (1778) French ship Héros (1778) Héros was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, known mostly for being the flagship of Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez during the Anglo-French War. She was built in 1778 at Toulon on a design by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb. In 1781 she became part of Suffren's force, consisting of the 16-gun frigate "Fortune", five ships of the line, eight troopships and a thousand soldiers, all entrusted with carrying the French war effort into the Indian Ocean. The other warships were one other 74 gun ship (the "Annibal") and three 64-gun ships (the