Voltaire's Struggle as an Independent Writer

Voltaire, a famous writer and thinker from the Enlightenment period, encountered financial struggles as an independent writer in France. Due to the lack of copyright laws, his books were pirated in other countries, and the government censored his work. He lived in poverty until he discovered an arithmetic error in the state Lotto program. Collaborating with someone, he cornered the lottery market and made 500 French francs (equivalent to $5 million today), enabling him to focus on his craft and become a central figure of the Enlightenment.