Editing Ferney-Voltaire (section)

==Voltaire==
[[File:Voltaire statue, Ferney.JPG|thumb|left|Statue of Voltaire in town's center]]
From 1758 to 1778 Ferney was home to French writer and philosopher [[Voltaire]], sometimes referred to as "the patriarch of Ferney."<ref>{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Ferney, The Patriarch of|year=1905}}</ref> His influence on the town was profound. He built the local church and founded cottage industries that produced some of the finest [[Pottery|potters]] and [[watchmaker]]s of modern France. The town was eventually renamed "Ferney-Voltaire" in his honour.

In 1758, after having lived in [[Geneva]] for less than two years, Voltaire purchased the estate of Ferney in France, near the Swiss border. A prime reason for his leaving Geneva was that theatre was forbidden in that [[Calvinist]] city, so he had decided to become the enlightened "patriarch" of the little village of Ferney, setting up potteries, a watchmaking industry and, of course, theatres, attracting rich people from Geneva to watch his plays.

During Voltaire's residence, the population of Ferney increased to more than 1,000. Voltaire lived there for the last 20 years of his life before returning to Paris, where he died in 1778.