You Mean the Other Voltaire? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Candide

"Candide" (1759) is a satire about a sweet fellow who starts out in a castle, indoctrinated in optimism, but is subjected to terrible events and adventures. The novel was secretly published and then widely banned, because of its insightful attack on institutions and philosophies held dear. The novel is often listed among the Western canon classics.

Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), known as "Voltaire", was a French historian and philosopher renowned for his quick wit. A prolific writer in many forms, Voltaire advocated civil liberties and freedom of religion. His long-time companion was the great French mind Emilie du Chatelet, with whom Voltaire studied science and discussed philosophy. Although the origin of the name "Voltaire" is debated, this high society man did not want his family name, Arouet, which means generally, "to be beaten up".

"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." -- Voltaire

Answer: Gigi

The novella "Gigi" (1944), penned by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954) depicts a young French girl groomed as a courtesan (hence the suggestive heels in the photo), and the wealthy Gaston who marries her. The story has been adapted as a film, play and musical.

Colette wrote her first four novels about the character "Claudine" (1900-1904), for which her first husband "Willy" took credit. After he died Colette had the legal courts remove his name from her work. She was the first woman to report from the front lines in WWI, and used only one name, a trend of the time for men.

"Lelia", "Valentine" and "Antonia" answer options are novels by French novelist George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin), known to friends as "Aurore".

"Liane d'Exelmans has committed suicide...again!" (Gigi)

Answer: Moor

Now known simply as "Othello", in William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice" a Moorish general is tricked by the sinister Iago. Othello is convinced by Iago's two-faced scheming that his innocent wife Desdemona is unfaithful, with tragic results. Though there are many questions about Shakespeare, his life and his plays, he was born in England, 1564 and died of unknown if seemingly sudden cause in 1616 at age fifty-two.

"Othello" is closely based on a possibly true story by Cinthio, published in Italian in 1565. How Shakespeare came to know the story is unclear as it was never available in English while Shakespeare lived. Another one-word work, "Cardenio" or "The History of Cardenio", is a lost play, performed in 1613 in London, attributed to Shakespeare, though no content survives. It was probably about a young madman, Cardenio, akin to "Don Quixote" published the year before. "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" are other one-name Shakespearean works. The photo hint shows moored boats.

"O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!" (Othello)

Answer: Resurrection

The great Russian author Leo Tolstoy (Count Lyov Nikolayevich Tolstoy, 1828-1910) had not written fiction for 25 years when he did "Resurrection" (1899). It was his last novel, where nobleman Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov seduces a maid. She is fired and becomes a prostitute. Later Dmitri helps sentence the woman to prison in Siberia. Regretting his actions, Dmitri visits the prison, tries to help, and sees how cruel and filled with injustice the world can be. Though perhaps less masterfully written, "Resurrection" is beloved, and has been adapted into opera, film and TV mini-series. Tolstoy had 14 children. The photo hint is of Easter eggs, suggesting resurrection.

"It was clear that everything considered important and good was insignificant and repulsive, and that all this glamour and luxury hid the old well-known crimes, which not only remained unpunished but were adorned with all the splendor men can devise". (Resurrection)

Answer: Walden

Henry David Thoreau was born and died in Concord, Massachusetts (1817-1862). For two years, two months and two days he lived in a tiny cabin off the shores of Walden Pond, on land owned by his close friend EMERSON (Ralph Waldo). Thoreau's books and essays recorded observations and insights influential on later biology, botany, ecology, philosophy, religion and a view of Native Americans, as well as abolition of slavery, and great modern minds such as Martin Luther King, Jr, psychologist B.F. Skinner and the Transcendentalists.

Thoreau surmised Walden Pond was named after a Native American woman, or maybe from "walled-in pond", owing to large rocks along its shores. The photo hint is "walled-in". During his stay in the woods, Thoreau often walked a mile into Concord to visit with great thinkers. He never sought isolation, but self-sufficiency, simplicity, reflection and observation.

"...I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life..." (Walden)

Answer: Oprah

Born into rural Mississippi poverty in 1954, the "world's most powerful woman" ("Time" magazine) is known worldwide as Oprah. Radio personality, talk show host, Chair of "Harpo Productions", philanthropist and actress, Oprah Gail Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. Dubbed "The Oprah Effect", her endorsement or condemnation makes a big wave. She's an admired spiritual and political inspiration in TV and books. Oprah has written or co-written a handful of books, including "The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose", "Note to Self" and "The Wisdom Journal" (2018).

"As long as there is still breath there's forward". (The Path Made Clear)

By way of side note, Oprah has broken the glass ceiling over and over. She was the first Black woman billionaire in the USA, and the first listed in the prestigious Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In 2019 Oprah's net worth was about $3.2 billion. By contract Condoleezza Rice was worth $8 million. Margaret Atwood $1 million. J.K. Rowling $1 billion. Alice Walton (Walmart family) $44 billion. Mark Zuckerberg, on the other hand, was worth $82 billion. Interesting.

Answer: Persia

This great poet is known as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, Mevlevi/Mawlawi, and his birth name Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, but friends just call him Rumi. He was born in 1207 in present-day Afghanistan, though his family fled when Mongols invaded. Rumi grew up a scholar, exquisite poet and wise mystic of Persia (thus the Persian cat photo hint). He may be best known for "Spiritual Couplets" ("Matnawiye Ma'nawi"), often called the greatest mystical poem in all of literature. It seeks to teach the goal of "being in love with God". Rumi died in 1273. His mosque is a destination of pilgrimage, although he had written:

"When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men..."

"Our death is our wedding with eternity.
What is the secret? 'God is One'.
The sunlight splits when entering the windows of the house..."

Answer: Tartuffe

Known by his stage name Moliere, this great French actor, poet and playwright was named Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622. Born into prosperity he choose a life of acting and writing instead. This meant struggle and opposition, including time in debtor's prison, denunciation and banning. His breakthrough came on an improvised stage at the Louvre, when King Louis XIV saw his work, with the king's brother Philippe as patron. Moliere collapsed on stage while performing "The Imaginary Invalid", at age fifty-one (1673). His influence on culture, language and techniques of comedy is legend.

"Those who have greatest cause for guilt and shame, Are quickest to besmirch a neighbor's name..." (Tartuffe)

Answer: The Metamorphosis

German and Jewish Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883. Because of surreal and bizarre works like "The Metamorphosis", Kafkaesque is now a word, meaning events or feelings that are disorienting, menacing or distorted. Kafka died virtually unknown in 1924 of TB. Sadly he had burned most of his work, but his Last Wish instructions that every diary, manuscript and letter also be burned, his friend and executor Max Brod ignored. Kafka's love Dora Diamant kept many of his notebooks and letters, which were confiscated by the Gestapo in 1933, and are yet to be recovered. Kafka edited his final story on his deathbed, and was famous soon after death.

"One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug..." (The Metamorphosis)

Answer: Sappho

The Greek lyric poet Sappho (Psappho) is one of the "nine lyric poets", considered among the greatest poets in history. Plato called her the "tenth Muse" and her craft was called "dazzling". She was often imitated, but often decried. Despite this tremendous reputation only bits of her work survive. We believe she was born around 620 BC into an aristocratic family on the island of Lesbos, and died about 570 BC. A papyrus (AD 200) fragment mentions Sappho's "sweet mother" Cleis, and a sister also called Cleis. The photo hint shows a lyre, as the poetry of Sappho was intended to be sung, accompanied by a lyre:

"BLEST as the immortal gods is he, The youth who fondly sits by thee, And hears and sees thee, all the while, Softly speaks and sweetly smile..." --Sappho