Albert Camus
French philosopher and Nobel laureate, key figure in absurdism.
Albert Camus was a French philosopher, novelist, and political activist born on 7 November 1913 in Mondovi, French Algeria.[1][2] He died in a car crash on 4 January 1960.[3][4] Between 1928 and 1930, Camus was the goalkeeper for the junior team of Racing Universitaire d'Alger.[5]
Quick Facts
- Region
- Western philosophy
- Born
- 7 November 1913
- Birthplace
- Mondovi, French Algeria
- Died
- 4 January 1960
- Place of death
- Villeblevin, France
- Education
- University of Algiers
- Notable works
- The Stranger
- The Outsider
- The Myth of Sisyphus
- The Rebel
- The Plague
- School of thought
- Continental philosophy
- Absurdism
- Existentialism
- French Nietzscheanism
- Syndicalist anarchism
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Camus grew up in poverty in the Belcourt section of Algiers with his deaf and illiterate mother, never knowing his father who was killed in World War I.[2] His teacher Louis Germain secured him a scholarship to a prestigious lyceum in 1924.[6] He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957 at age 44.[7] Camus died instantly when the car he was travelling in hit a tree on an icy road.[3]
After being diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 17 in 1930, Camus began studying philosophy under the guidance of his teacher Jean Grenier.[8] Camus started his studies at the University of Algiers in 1933 and earned his BA in philosophy in 1936.[9] In early 1935, Camus became a member of the French Communist Party because he wanted to address the unequal treatment of Europeans and "natives" in Algeria.[6]
What the cited sources add
A 2021 essay notes that Camus first felt the absurd in Algiers's Mustapha Hospital in the winter of 1930.[10] The essay also states that Camus asked pilot Marie Viton to fly him to Djemila, where he was overcome by the indifference of the natural world.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Leinen, "A Democratic World Parliament", democracywithoutborders.com, p. 1, 2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carroll 2013, p. 50 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Albert Camus might have been killed by the KGB for criticising the Soviet Union, claims newspaper". facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- "New book claims Albert Camus was murdered by the KGB". facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clarke 2009, p. 488; Lattal 1995 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hayden 2016, p. 8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Belair, "NOBEL PRIZE WON BY ALBERT CAMUS", The New York Times, 18 October 1957 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sherman 2009, p. 11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Albert Camus" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Jensen, "Without God or Reason", 1 January 2021. facts only, no text reused. commonwealmagazine.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Albert Camus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Notable Figures
Elsewhere in Historical Figures
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced
