Books — Le Grand Style : An apartment on the Quai d'Orsay designed by Alberto Pinto
Charles Leconte de Lisle, full name Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle, was a French poet and politician, head of the Parnassus poetic movement.
He was a member of the Revolution of 1848 and initiator of the law on the abolition of slavery in the colonies. As a poet, he was highly regarded by his contemporaries, including Victor Hugo. Leconte de Lisle's poems are characterized by a clear, sculptural, "objective" form. He translated into French a number of classical Greek works.
Voltaire, born François Marie Arouet, was a French philosopher-enlightener of the French Enlightenment, poet and writer, satirist, tragedian, historian and essayist.
Voltaire's long life fell on the last years of classicism and the eve of the revolutionary era, and in this transitional period his works and activities had a significant impact on the direction of European civilization. Through his critical freethinking and wit, Voltaire won the minds of many 18th century European rulers. To this day, he continues to enjoy worldwide fame as a courageous fighter against tyranny, bigotry, and cruelty.
Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and separation of church and state. He was a versatile and prolific writer in all literary forms, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and scholarly expositions. In total, he wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. Voltaire's most famous works are the tragic play Zaire, the historical study The Age of Louis XIV, and the satirical novella Candide.