User:EE Project/Jean Louis Wagnière

Jean Louis Wagnière (1739–1802), Swiss secretary of Voltaire

A native of Berne, he became Voltaire's second secretary when his predecessor, Collini, was dismissed in 1756. He acted as secretary, amanuensis and general factotum to Voltaire for the rest of his life; his reliability and discretion led Voltaire to rely entirely on him and to entrust him with confidential business. After Voltaire's death he remained with his wife at Ferney until the estate was sold by Mme Denis; when Voltaire's library was sold to Catherine II he accompanied the books to Saint Petersburg and put them in order on arrival. He was involved in Panckoucke's, and then Beaumarchais's, project to produce the Œuvres complètes of Voltaire, but only as a secretary. Author of Mémoires sur Voltaire et ses ouvrages (1825); the Commentaire historique sur les œuvres de l’auteur de La Henriade (1776) was published under his name but has generally been attributed by modern scholars to Voltaire himself.