Summary:

Jarmo Pulkkinen, Frederick the Great and Voltaire – A Friendship between a King and a Philosopher.

Frederick II of Prussia (1712 – 1786, king from 1740 to 1786) became known as “Frederick the Great” for his military achievements. As an absolute monarch, he carried out a number of enlightened reforms, including the abolition of torture and an educational reform. Philosopher and author François-Marie Arouet, aka Voltaire (1694 – 1778) was one of the leaders of the French Enlightenment.

In August 1736, Voltaire received a letter from the Crown Prince of Prussia. It was written by a young man whose importance seemed to lie simply in the fact that he was heir to one of the secondary European monarchies. Voltaire was deeply flattered and replied in a similar vein. He wrote that he was delighted to find that there existed in the world “a philosophic prince who will make men happy”. In the subsequent correspondence, both attempted to outflatter each other. However, Frederick and Voltaire also discussed art, poetry, science and philosophy. The correspondence between Frederick and Voltaire lasted for forty-two years, consisting of more than a thousand letters.

In 1750, Voltaire accepted Frederick’s invitation to stay at his court in Berlin. However, Voltaire’s visit ended in a bitter break-up due to Voltaire’s interference in the dispute between Maupertuis and König. In 1753, Voltaire hastily left Prussia. After this, Frederick and Voltaire were never to face to face again. However, their correspondence continued until Voltaire’s death in 1778.

To a certain extent Frederick’s and Voltaire’s friendship was based on utility. Frederick wrote a lot of poetry in French. Since Frederick was writing in a foreign language, he needed Voltaire to correct his verses. In turn, Voltaire wanted to secure royal patronage should he need it. However, Frederick and Voltaire also did have genuine admiration for each other.