Historical Figures Codexery

Albert Schweitzer

Polymath, theologian, physician, and Nobel laureate who championed 'Reverence for Life'.

Albert Schweitzer was born on 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg, Alsace, then part of the German Empire.[1] In what was then French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon), Schweitzer established and maintained the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Lambaréné.[2]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer
Born
14 January 1875
Birthplace
Kaysersberg, Alsace–Lorraine, German Empire
Died
4 September 1965
Place of death
Lambaréné, Gabon
Citizenship
Germany (until 1919), France (from 1919)
Doctoral advisor
Theobald Ziegler
Known for
  • Quest for the historical Jesus
  • Reverence for Life
  • Consistent "thorough-going" eschatology (posthumously)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He studied organ in Mulhouse from 1885 to 1893 with Eugène Munch.[3] He obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1899 with a dissertation on Kant's religious philosophy.[4] During World War I, Schweitzer and his wife were put under supervision by the French military at Lambaréné.[5] He died on September 4, 1965, and was buried at Lambaréné.[4]

Adèle (née Schillinger) and Louis Théophile Schweitzer were his parents; his father, a Lutheran pastor, gave him music lessons.[1] The Alsatian dialect of German was the language Schweitzer first learned.[3] After playing for Charles-Marie Widor in 1893, Widor was so impressed that he offered to teach Schweitzer at no cost.[3][6] Together with his wife, Schweitzer departed in early 1913 to create a hospital close to a pre-existing mission station.[7]

What the cited sources add

The Nobel presentation speech notes that Schweitzer grew up in the presbytery of the village of Günsbach in a happy and harmonious home.[8] The same speech states that Schweitzer's study of medicine claimed seven years of his life, from 1905 to 1913.[8] That page also reports that he served in high-ranking administrative posts at the Theological College of St. Thomas from 1901 to 1912.[4] A review of Schweitzer's book notes that he analyzed the Gospels and became convinced Jesus' message was essentially eschatological.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Oermann 2016, p. 43; Free 1988, p. 74; "Stammbaum – Genealogic tree Arbre généalogique de la famille Schweitze", Schweitzer; "Association Internationale Albert Schweitzer" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schweitzer, "The Nobel Peace Prize 1952", The Nobel prize, 10 December 1953 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: A. Schweitzer, Eugene Munch (J. Brinkmann, Mulhouse 1898). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "Albert Schweitzer – Biographical", nobelprize.org. facts only, no text reused. nobelprize.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Albert Schweitzer 1875–1965 . schweitzer.org (in German) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Joy 1953, p. 23–24 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schweitzer 1924, p. ch. 6 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Schweitzer, "The Nobel Peace Prize 1952", The Nobel prize, 10 December 1953. facts only, no text reused. nobelprize.org
  9. "Review of "The Mystery of the Kingdom of God"", Pcisys. facts only, no text reused. home.pcisys.net

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Albert Schweitzer (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.

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