Marc-Antoine Calas
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Marc-Antoine Calas (died October 13, 1761) was eldest son of French merchant Jean Calas. His death occurred under mysterious circumstances, and his father was tortured to death on a breaking wheel on March 10, 1762 after being convicted of killing his son.
Many believed Calas' motive was to keep his son from converting to Catholicism, and the case was taken up by Voltaire, who began a successful campaign to get Calas' sentence overturned.
[edit] External links
- l'Affaire Calas (in French)
- Voltaire's Traité sur la Tolérance à l'occasion de la mort de Jean Calas (in French)
