When a statue of François-Marie Arouet was dramatically removed from outside the Académie Française in Paris this month, it was by no means only members of the far-right who expressed their outrage.
On the contrary, self-styled moderates of all political persuasions said the prolific 18th-century writer best known by his nom de plume, Voltaire, should be untouchable. They were incensed when anti-racist graffiti kept being sprayed on the stone depiction because of his links with the slave trade.
