François-Marie Arouet

About Voltaire:

 

Born "François-Marie Arouet"; the nom de plume was first used in Arouet's first accomplished tragedy Œdipe, which was written in 1718 while he was in prison in Bastille due to his poem La Henriad having satirical attacks to politics and religion.

The name itself is a play on words with "AROVET LI", which is Arouet in Latin, as well as the initial letters of "le jeune" (the young).

Due to his (in)famousness, Voltaire was sometimes driven out of cities or borderlines with bayonets because some guards saw him as trouble due to his part in the French Revolution and mock of the Church.