Albert Schweitzer Biography
Grave of Albert Schweitzer in Lambaréné
Albert Schweitzer was born on January 14, 1875 in the town of Kaysersberg in the German province of Alsace-Lorraine. Schweitzer's father and maternal grandfather were both ministers. Both of his grandparents were gifted organists. So it was that this brilliant mind would pursue interests in both these disciplines. He became a theologian and an internationally recognized organist. These pursuits were, however, only preamble to the international recognition he would earn as a humanitarian.
Schweitzer began studying organ at the age of ten, showing great talent. In 1893 he began studying Protestant theology, receiving a PhD in 1899. During his theological studies, he maintained his studying and playing of the organ and piano while also dedicating efforts to restoring historic pipe organs. His pursuit in both of these fields was strikingly intellectual.
After obtaining his doctorate, he began preaching in Strasbourg and over the next twelve years, held a variety of positions at the theological college he had studied at. He also published a biography on Bach (1905), The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906), and a book on the art of building and playing organ (1906). It was also during this period Schweitzer began acting on a deeply held conviction. At the age of twenty-one, three years prior to receiving his PhD, Schweitzer had decided he would commit himself to serving humanity directly by the age of thirty. It was indeed at that age Schweitzer had an epiphany. A French Missionary Society was looking for a medical doctor to serve in Africa. In 1905, with no previous medical knowledge, he set about earning a Doctorate in Medicine. Friends and family were shocked and urged him otherwise, but Schweitzer had developed a deep desire to atone for what he saw as the white man's historical degradation of the black race.
Through organ concerts and other fund raising, he collected enough capital to establish a clinic in equatorial Africa. In 1913, he and wife Helene left for Lambaréné, Gabon and set up their operation near an existing mission. Schweitzer even managed to deliver a pedal piano built for the tropics via canoe.
Over the years the clinic grew into a hospital with 72 buildings and 600 beds, but not without complications. Schweitzer returned to Europe a total of fourteen times, seeking financing through organ recitals and fund-raising. The Schweitzers were also deported to France during World War I. Albert and Helene were effectively German citizens in a French colony during hostilities between the two countries. Rather preposterously, the Schweitzers were held as prisoners of war by the French and sent to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. In a strange twist of history, the monastery that served as their prison had once been an asylum in which Vincent Van Gogh had spent four miserable months before suicide.
In the postwar years, Schweitzer returned to his work in Lambaréné and continued to probe his philosophical and spiritual muses. He wrote The Philosophy of Civilization (1923), The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (1929), Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography (1931), and Indian Thought and Its Development (1935).
Like Leo Tolstoy, Schweitzer was influenced by Schopenhauer’s book The World as Will and like Mohandas Gandhi, Schweitzer was influenced by the Jain philosophy of ahimsa. These influences added to his Christian foundational belief of “Love Thy Neighbor.” Together with these tenets, Schweitzer arrived at his worldview of “reverence for life.” This can be summed up as “the will-to-live in the midst of will-to-live.” In other words, there is an ethics to the sacred respect for the will of all things to live and coexist.
Through the extraordinary achievements made manifest through his hospital and his advancement of his reverence for life philosophy, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. Characteristically, he used the stipend to add to his hospital’s capacity in the treatment of leprosy.
Albert Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965. He was buried at Lambaréné.
Schweitzer began studying organ at the age of ten, showing great talent. In 1893 he began studying Protestant theology, receiving a PhD in 1899. During his theological studies, he maintained his studying and playing of the organ and piano while also dedicating efforts to restoring historic pipe organs. His pursuit in both of these fields was strikingly intellectual.
After obtaining his doctorate, he began preaching in Strasbourg and over the next twelve years, held a variety of positions at the theological college he had studied at. He also published a biography on Bach (1905), The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906), and a book on the art of building and playing organ (1906). It was also during this period Schweitzer began acting on a deeply held conviction. At the age of twenty-one, three years prior to receiving his PhD, Schweitzer had decided he would commit himself to serving humanity directly by the age of thirty. It was indeed at that age Schweitzer had an epiphany. A French Missionary Society was looking for a medical doctor to serve in Africa. In 1905, with no previous medical knowledge, he set about earning a Doctorate in Medicine. Friends and family were shocked and urged him otherwise, but Schweitzer had developed a deep desire to atone for what he saw as the white man's historical degradation of the black race.
Through organ concerts and other fund raising, he collected enough capital to establish a clinic in equatorial Africa. In 1913, he and wife Helene left for Lambaréné, Gabon and set up their operation near an existing mission. Schweitzer even managed to deliver a pedal piano built for the tropics via canoe.
Over the years the clinic grew into a hospital with 72 buildings and 600 beds, but not without complications. Schweitzer returned to Europe a total of fourteen times, seeking financing through organ recitals and fund-raising. The Schweitzers were also deported to France during World War I. Albert and Helene were effectively German citizens in a French colony during hostilities between the two countries. Rather preposterously, the Schweitzers were held as prisoners of war by the French and sent to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. In a strange twist of history, the monastery that served as their prison had once been an asylum in which Vincent Van Gogh had spent four miserable months before suicide.
In the postwar years, Schweitzer returned to his work in Lambaréné and continued to probe his philosophical and spiritual muses. He wrote The Philosophy of Civilization (1923), The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (1929), Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography (1931), and Indian Thought and Its Development (1935).
Like Leo Tolstoy, Schweitzer was influenced by Schopenhauer’s book The World as Will and like Mohandas Gandhi, Schweitzer was influenced by the Jain philosophy of ahimsa. These influences added to his Christian foundational belief of “Love Thy Neighbor.” Together with these tenets, Schweitzer arrived at his worldview of “reverence for life.” This can be summed up as “the will-to-live in the midst of will-to-live.” In other words, there is an ethics to the sacred respect for the will of all things to live and coexist.
Through the extraordinary achievements made manifest through his hospital and his advancement of his reverence for life philosophy, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. Characteristically, he used the stipend to add to his hospital’s capacity in the treatment of leprosy.
Albert Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965. He was buried at Lambaréné.