<P> A satirical and parodic precursor of Candide, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) is one of Candide's closest literary relatives . This satire tells the story of "a gullible ingenue", Gulliver, who (like Candide) travels to several "remote nations" and is hardened by the many misfortunes which befall him . As evidenced by similarities between the two books, Voltaire probably drew upon Gulliver's Travels for inspiration while writing Candide . Other probable sources of inspiration for Candide are Télémaque (1699) by François Fénelon and Cosmopolite (1753) by Louis - Charles Fougeret de Monbron . Candide's parody of the bildungsroman is probably based on Télémaque, which includes the prototypical parody of the tutor on whom Pangloss may have been partly based . Likewise, Monbron's protagonist undergoes a disillusioning series of travels similar to those of Candide . </P> <P> Born François - Marie Arouet, Voltaire (1694--1778), by the time of the Lisbon earthquake, was already a well - established author, known for his satirical wit . He had been made a member of the Académie Française in 1746 . He was a deist, a strong proponent of religious freedom, and a critic of tyrannical governments . Candide became part of his large, diverse body of philosophical, political and artistic works expressing these views . More specifically, it was a model for the eighteenth - and early nineteenth - century novels called the contes philosophiques . This genre, of which Voltaire was one of the founders, included previous works of his such as Zadig and Micromegas . </P> <P> It is unknown exactly when Voltaire wrote Candide, but scholars estimate that it was primarily composed in late 1758 and begun as early as 1757 . Voltaire is believed to have written a portion of it while living at Les Délices near Geneva and also while visiting Charles Théodore, the Elector - Palatinate at Schwetzingen, for three weeks in the summer of 1758 . Despite solid evidence for these claims, a popular legend persists that Voltaire wrote Candide in three days . This idea is probably based on a misreading of the 1885 work La Vie intime de Voltaire aux Délices et à Ferney by Lucien Perey (real name: Clara Adèle Luce Herpin) and Gaston Maugras . The evidence indicates strongly that Voltaire did not rush or improvise Candide, but worked on it over a significant period of time, possibly even a whole year . Candide is mature and carefully developed, not impromptu, as the intentionally choppy plot and the aforementioned myth might suggest . </P> <P> There is only one extant manuscript of Candide that was written before the work's 1759 publication; it was discovered in 1956 by Wade and since named the La Vallière Manuscript . It is believed to have been sent, chapter by chapter, by Voltaire to the Duke and Duchess La Vallière in the autumn of 1758 . The manuscript was sold to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in the late eighteenth century, where it remained undiscovered for almost two hundred years . The La Vallière Manuscript, the most original and authentic of all surviving copies of Candide, was probably dictated by Voltaire to his secretary, Jean - Louis Wagnière, then edited directly . In addition to this manuscript, there is believed to have been another, one copied by Wagnière for the Elector Charles - Théodore, who hosted Voltaire during the summer of 1758 . The existence of this copy was first postulated by Norman L. Torrey in 1929 . If it exists, it remains undiscovered . </P>

Who is candide and what do we know of his background and character where did his name come from