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Les Délices ("The Delights") was from 1755 to 1760 the home of the French philosopher
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
(1694–1778) in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Since 1952 it has housed the
Institut et Musée Voltaire
The Institut et Musée Voltaire is a museum in Geneva dedicated to the life and works of Voltaire. The museum is housed in Les Délices, which was Voltaire's home from 1755 until 1760.
The property was bought by the city of Geneva in 1929, and the ...
, a museum dedicated to his life and works.
Voltaire's residency
Voltaire and his
niece and lover, the widow
Madame Marie-Louise Denis, were looking for a new home. A property in Geneva meant that they could live beyond the legal reach of the French crown, an important consideration for Voltaire who was constantly in trouble with the authorities in France because of his writings. Although no Catholic, even a severely lapsed one like Voltaire, could own land in Protestant Geneva, he could lease a property. Through the efforts of friends and business associates in Geneva, Voltaire was granted permission to live within the confines of the city.
Jean-Jacques Millet, a banker in Geneva, had a country residence on the hillside of Saint Jean just outside the city gates. It had a commanding view, gardens stretching down to the banks of the Rhône, and it came fully furnished.
On January 19, 1755, Voltaire and Mme. Denis visited the property and were taken with it. They especially liked a long gallery that could be used to stage their theatricals (though theatre was forbidden in Geneva as immoral).
On February 1, 1755, Voltaire received his permission to live in Geneva. A month later, on March 1, 1755, after a complicated series of negotiations (Voltaire drove a hard bargain), he and his niece moved into the property.
They set about immediately to improve what was already a superb residence. They planted many different kinds of plants and herbs, including asparagus (grown in a greenhouse), and many fruit trees, including apples and late-fruiting peaches. Four gardeners, twelve servants, and twenty artisans worked on the property. Voltaire and his paramour renamed the house "Les Délices", and he wrote a poem in 1758 about his feelings for the house:
Here I am, by reason drawn to this retreat,/At peace, at liberty,/Freedom, that wise divinity,/Whom all mortals desire, whose loss we all regret,/Is here the source of my felicity. ..Study sustains me, and reason guides me with its light;/I speak what I think, and I do as I will.
After Voltaire
In 1760, Voltaire left Les Délices for
Ferney
Ferney-Voltaire () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It lies between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border; it forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva.
History
Ferney was first ...
in France, and the house was then occupied by the Tronchin family. In the 1830s, when Colonel Henri Tronchin (1794–1865) was a lay president of the recently founded Evangelical Society of Geneva, Les Délices is reported to have been used as a repository for Bibles. In view of Voltaire's skeptical attitude to Christianity and its Bible, this ironic report continues to be widely circulated and embellished by religious apologists. Contrary to popular belief,
Les Délices has never been occupied by the current incarnation of the Geneva Bible Society, which was only founded in 1917.
The property was purchased by the city of Geneva in 1929, and today houses the
Institut et Musée Voltaire
The Institut et Musée Voltaire is a museum in Geneva dedicated to the life and works of Voltaire. The museum is housed in Les Délices, which was Voltaire's home from 1755 until 1760.
The property was bought by the city of Geneva in 1929, and the ...
, a museum founded in 1952 and dedicated to the life and works of
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
.
References
Bibliography
* Borda d'Água, Flávio, and Jacob, François. ''A Short History of Les Délices: from the property of Saint-Jean to the Institut et Musée Voltaire''. Geneva: La Baconnière/Arts et Bibliothèque de Geneve, 2013. .
* Davidson, Ian. ''Voltaire: A Life.'' New York: Pegasus Books, 2010, pp. 273–275.
* Pearson, Roger. ''Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom.'' London and New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005, pp. 241–246.
* Wootton, David, ''Candide and Related Texts''. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 2000.
External links
*
Institut et Musée Voltaire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Les Delices
Villas in Switzerland
Buildings and structures in Geneva
Historic house museums in Switzerland
Voltaire
History of Geneva
Neoclassical architecture in Switzerland
fr:Institut et musée Voltaire