Evelyn Beatrice Hall

Who was Evelyn Beatrice Hall?

Evelyn Beatrice Hall, who wrote under the pseudonym S.G. Tallentyre, was an English writer best known for her biography of Voltaire entitled The Friends of Voltaire, which she completed in 1906.

In her biography on Voltaire, Hall wrote the phrase: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" as an illustration of Voltaire's beliefs. Hall's quotation is often cited to describe the principle of freedom of speech.

Hall appeared to be an important influence in the life of her brother-in-law, Hugh Stowell Scott. Upon his death in 1903, Scott left £5,000 to Hall, writing that it was "in token of my gratitude for her continued assistance and literary advice, without which I should never have been able to have made a living by my pen."