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Voltaire is elected to the Académie française

On 2 May 1746 Voltaire was received into the Académie française after court lobbying. In the causal graph this event strengthens Social Cohesion, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 2 May 1746 Voltaire was received into the Académie française after court lobbying.

Context

An academy seat is cohesion among elites, not popular representation. It also folded a dissident into royal culture.

Voltaire is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

A fauteuil is not a parliament.

A fauteuil is not a parliament.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Voltaire

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.24 · verified

    Dated act under Voltaire as author, investor, or campaigner. Printers, kings, and lawyers share labour.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactVoltaire is elected to the Académie française
    2. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 2 May 1746 · verified

    A fauteuil is not a parliament.

    • Having a say in government

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Académie française — VoltaireAcadémie française · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — VoltaireEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Confidence is stated on the impact path.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorVoltaire
  2. contributed toFactVoltaire is elected to the Académie française
  3. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Voltaire is elected to the Académie française. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/vo-academie-1746

https://factrail.ai/facts/vo-academie-1746

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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