The Institut et Musée Voltaire is a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 dedicated to the life and works of Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

. The museum is housed in Les Délices

Les Délices

Les Délices, or "The Delights", was a Geneva home of Voltaire, a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher. Voltaire moved to Les Délices in January 1755, having purchased a life interest in the estate. Being a foreigner, he could not buy the house directly.-External links:*...

, which was Voltaire's home from 1755 until 1760.

The property was bought by the city of Geneva in 1929, and the museum opened in 1952, founded by Theodore Besterman

Theodore Besterman

Theodore Deodatus Nathaniel Besterman was a psychical researcher, bibliographer, biographer, and translator. He was the first editor of the Journal of Documentation.Besterman born in Łódź, Poland, but moved to London in his youth...

.

It contains about 25,000 volumes on Voltaire and the 18th century as well as a collection of paintings and prints from the period, many depicting Voltaire, his relatives and acquaintances.