Albert Schweitzer (German Albert Schweitzer, January 14, 1875, Kaysersberg, Haute-Alsace - September 4, 1965, Lambarene) - German and French Protestant theologian, cultural philosopher, humanist, musician and physician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1952).

In 1884-1885, Albert studied at a real school in Münster, then at a gymnasium in Mühlhausen (1885-1893).

In October 1893, Schweitzer entered the University of Strasbourg, where he studied theology, philosophy and music theory simultaneously.

In 1894-1895 he was a soldier in the German army, while he continued to attend lectures on philosophy. In the autumn of 1898 - spring of 1899, Albert Schweitzer lived in Paris, listened to lectures at the Sorbonne, wrote a dissertation on Kant, took organ and piano lessons, in the summer of 1899 he continued his academic studies in Berlin and by the end of the year, having defended his dissertation in Strasbourg, received a doctorate philosophy, and in 1900 - also the title of licentiate in theology.

In 1901, Schweitzer's first books on theology were published - “The Problem of the Last Supper, an analysis based on scientific research of the nineteenth century and on historical reports” and “The Mystery of Messianism and the Passion. Sketch of the Life of Jesus,” in the spring of 1902, he began teaching at the theological faculty of the University of Strasbourg.

In 1903, at one of his sermons, he met his future wife, Elena Breslau.

In 1905, Schweitzer decided to devote the rest of his life to medicine and became a student at the Faculty of Medicine of the same University of Strasbourg, while continuing his scientific works: in 1906, his theological study on the search for the “historical Jesus” was published entitled “From Reimarus to Wrede” and an essay about German and French organ building, he went on tour to Spain for the first time. In 1908, his expanded and revised German version of Bach was published. He took an active part in the work of the organ section of the Vienna Congress of the International Musical Society.

In 1911, he passed the exams at the Faculty of Medicine and published a book about the mysticism of the Apostle Paul.

In 1912 he married Helena Breslau.

In 1913 he completed his dissertation on the topic “Psychiatric Assessment of the Personality of Jesus” and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

In 1949, at the invitation of the University of Chicago, he visited the United States.

In 1953, Schweitzer won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, and with the funds received he built a leper village near Lambarene. Corresponding Member of the British Academy (1956).

In April 1957, Schweitzer delivered an “Address to Humanity,” calling on governments to stop testing nuclear weapons. In May 1957, Elena Breslau, the wife and colleague of Albert Schweitzer, dies.

After Schweitzer left for Lambarene forever in 1959, the hospital town became a place of pilgrimage for many people from all over the world. Until his very last days, he continued to receive patients, build a hospital and make appeals against nuclear testing.

Albert Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965 in Lambarenne and was buried under the windows of his office next to his wife’s grave.

Books (5)

Reverence for life

The book is a collection of works by the outstanding humanist thinker A. Schweitzer (1875-1965).

Schweitzer's worldview is based on the principle of reverence for life, which acts as the basis for the renewal of humanity and the formation of a universal cosmic ethics. The book develops the idea of ​​a free and moral individual, rejects the dominance of the “universal” over the “specifically personal,” and talks about the merging of ethics with culture. Along with the previously published work “Culture and Ethics” (Moscow, “Progress”, 1973), the collection includes a translation of Schweitzer’s ethical and theological work “The Mysticism of the Apostle Paul” and articles on humanitarian issues.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Schweitzer's book examines the problems of aesthetics, style and genre evolution of Bach's work in a broad context. Particular attention is paid to spiritual works, the meaning of which is revealed by a detailed musical and symbolic analysis carried out in connection with the church rituals of that time.

Modern information about the life and work of J. S. Bach is contained in the published Chronograph, compiled by the leading Russian Bach scholar T. V. Shabalina.

Culture and ethics

“Culture and ethics” - this problem is becoming increasingly relevant in our time, because the development of civilization in the 20th century has already reached a point where the culture of bourgeois society, devoid of an ethical basis, increasingly threatens the well-being and existence of man on Earth.

It is necessary to fully appreciate the danger posed to the future of humanity by the so-called “mass culture” of bourgeois society, which does not have strong moral foundations, is imbued with the ideas of violence, robbery, the cult of sex and continuously and for a long time corrupts the human dignity of many generations.

Letters from Lambarene

The book, entitled “Letters from Lambarene,” includes two works, “Between Water and the Virgin Forest” and “Letters from Lambarene.”

These works reflect Schweitzer's first and second periods in Africa.

This is a kind of result of the author’s many years of activity.

Beginning in 1913, he worked as a doctor in one of the most remote and dangerous areas of the former French colonies in Equatorial Africa, where sleeping sickness, leprosy and other severe and most often incurable ailments at that time were rampant.

Four speeches on Goethe

Alsatian theologian, musician, doctor, social thinker Albert Schweitzer is known to Russian readers as the author of a fundamental monograph on Bach and the books “The Decline and Revival of Culture. Culture and Ethics", "The Mysticism of the Apostle Paul", "Letters from Lambarene". Schweizer's appeal to Goethe was caused not simply by interest in the work of the great writer, but by the awareness of his deep inner connection with him.

In a crisis of culture and ethical values, Schweitzer tries to maintain the humanistic ideal, seeing its salvation in individualization, in giving it a personal character - provided that the individual strives for self-improvement. The fundamental meaning of Goethe in this sense is that by “hewing the rough stone” of his soul, he reaches the heights of humanity. The great example of Goethe allows us to say: inner perfection and kindness towards others are two inseparable aspirations of true humanism, and not at all mutually exclusive qualities, as fashionable theories of the 20th century claim; to become yourself means to become kind.

Dismissing myths about the Olympians being far removed from life, Schweitzer pays special attention to such personality traits of Goethe as living, active love, a spirit of humility that encourages practical life, unity of thoughts and being, and sensitivity to the demands of his era preserved into old age. Strive for true humanity; do not make any compromises; always remain yourself - this is how he sees Goethe’s testament.

Biography

Schweitzer was born in Kaysersberg (Upper Alsace, which in those years belonged to Germany; now a territory of France), in the family of a poor Lutheran pastor Louis Schweitzer and his wife Adele, née Schillinger, also the daughter of a pastor. On his father's side he was J.-P.'s cousin. Sartre.

In April 1957, Schweitzer delivered an “Address to Humanity,” calling on governments to stop testing nuclear weapons. In May 1957, Elena Breslau, the wife and colleague of Albert Schweitzer, dies.

Schweitzer the philosopher

According to Schweitzer, the moral content of culture is its core, its supporting structure. Therefore, “ethical progress is essential and undoubted, while material progress is less significant and less undoubted in the development of culture.” The discrepancy in the pace of development of the spiritual and material spheres of culture, according to Schweitzer, is a real contradiction, which is one of the driving forces of its progress. But the nature of the development of culture is negatively affected not only by society’s absolutization of its material side. The predominance of the spiritual sphere in Indian and Chinese cultures for a long time hampered the progress of their material side. Schweitzer advocated for the harmonious development of all aspects, all spheres of culture, with the indispensable primacy of its moral side. That is why the thinker himself called his concept of culture moralistic.

According to Schweitzer, the deepest crisis in which modern Western culture as a whole finds itself and continues to find itself cannot be successfully overcome and humanity will not be able not only to stop decadence, but also to achieve complete spiritual “recovery” (rebirth) until The human “I” does not become aware of itself and will not begin to act everywhere and in everything as “life wanting to live among life.”

Schweitzer the humanist

Living such a sacrificial life, he never reproached anyone. On the contrary, I really felt sorry for people who, due to circumstances, cannot devote their lives to others. And he always encouraged them to take advantage of every opportunity to do good. “There is no person who would not have the opportunity to give himself to people and thereby demonstrate his human essence. Anyone who takes advantage of every opportunity to be human by doing something for those who need help - no matter how humble his activity may be - can save his life.” Schweitzer believed that a person has no right to judge anyone but himself, and the only thing he can preach is his way of life.

Essays

• "Kant's Philosophy of Religion" (1899; dissertation),
• "The Problem of the Last Supper, an Analysis Based on Nineteenth-Century Scientific Research and Historical Accounts" (1901),
• “The Mystery of Messiahship and Passions. Sketch of the Life of Jesus" (1901),
• (1906),
• "AND. S. Bach - musician and poet" and "Johann Sebastian Bach" (first edition - J.S.Bach, musicien-poète, in French in 1905; second expanded edition - Johann Sebastian Bach, in German in 1908),
• "From Reimarus to Wrede" and "History of the Study of the Life of Jesus" (first edition - Von Reimarus zu Wrede in 1906; second edition - Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschuung in 1913),
• “Psychiatric assessment of the personality of Jesus” (Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu, 1913, dissertation),
• (1919)
• “Between Water and Virgin Forest” (Zwischen Wasser und Urwald, 1921),
• “From my childhood and youth” (Aus meiner Kindheit und Jugendzeit, 1924),
• (Verfall und Wiederaufbau der Kultur. Kulturphilosophie. Erster Teil, 1923),
• (Kultur und Ethik. Kulturphilosophie. Zweiter Teil, 1923),
• (Das Christentum und die Weltreligionen, 1924),
• (1925-1927),
• “The Construction Art of German and French Organs” (Deutsche und französische Orgelbaukunst und Orgelkunst, 1927),
• "Attitude of Whites towards the Colored Races" (1928),
• (Die Mystik des Apostels Paulus; 1930),
• (Aus meinem Leben und Denken; autobiography; 1931),
• (1934),
• (Die Weltanschauung der indischen Denker. Mystik und Ethik; 1935),
• “On the State of Our Culture” (1947),
• (1950),
• "Philosophy and the Animal Welfare Movement" (1950),
• “The idea of ​​the Kingdom of God in the era of transformation of eschatological faith into non-eschatological faith” (1953),
• (1954),
• (1954-1955),
• "African Stories" (Afrikanische Geschichten, 1955),
• “Peace or atomic war” (Peace or atomic war, 1958),
• (1960),
• (1961, published 1966)
• Fragments from various works.

Schweitzer about himself

• (fragment)

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Notes

Literature

• Albert Schweitzer - the great humanist of the 20th century / Comp. V. Ya. Shapiro; Ed. V. A. Karpushin. - M.: Nauka, 1970. - 240 p. - 12,000 copies.(region)
• Balagushkin E. G. Schweitzer A. // Culturology. Encyclopedia. In 2 volumes / Ch. ed. and ed. project S. Ya. Levit. - M.: “Russian Political Encyclopedia” (ROSSPEN), 2007. - T. 2. - P. 966-967. - 1184 p. - (Summa culturologiae). - ISBN 978-5-8243-0838-9, ISBN 978-5-8243-0840-6.
• Goetting G.: Per. with him. - M.: Science, 1967.
• Gilenson B. A. .
• Guseinov A. A. // Schweitzer A. Reverence for life. - M.: Progress, 1992.
• Kalyagin A. N., Blokhina N. N."Reverence for Life" by Dr. Schweitzer (on the 130th anniversary of his birth). // Siberian Medical Journal. - Irkutsk, 2004. - T. 49. No. 8. - P. 92-95.
• Levada Yu. A.// From Erasmus of Rotterdam to Bertrand Russell (Problems of bourgeois humanism and freethinking). - M.: Thought, 1969. - P. 141-157. - 303 s.
• Nosik B. M. Albert Schweitzer. White Doctor from the Jungle. (2nd ed., 2003; 1st edition was published in the ZhZL series in 1971).
• Petritsky V. A. Light in the jungle. - L.: "Children's Literature", 1972. - 254 p.
• Chernyavsky A. L.// Schweitzer A. Life and Thoughts / Comp. lane with German, afterword, note. and the references of A. A. Chernyavsky. - M.: Republic, 1996. - P. 490-505.
• Kharitonov M. S.
• Freyer P. G./ Paul Herbert Freier; Per. with him. S. A. Tarkhanova; Rep. ed. and the author of the afterword. V. A. Petritsky. - M.: Nauka (GRVL), 1982. - 232 p. - 40,000 copies.(region)
• Freyer P. G. Albert Schweitzer: Picture of Life / Paul Herbert Freier; Per. with him. S. A. Tarkhanova; Rep. ed. and the author of the afterword. V. A. Petritsky. - Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional - M.: Nauka (GRVL), 1984. - 224 p. - 39,000 copies.(region)

Links

• - article from the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (German) (French) (Italian)
• An excerpt from the book “The Lonely Friend of the Lonely” by Vladimir Levi.

Albert Schweitzer (German: Albert Schweitzer). Born January 14, 1875 in Kaysersberg, Upper Alsace - died September 4, 1965 in Lambarenne. German and French theologian, philosopher, humanist, musician and doctor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1952).

Schweitzer was born in Kaysersberg (Upper Alsace, which in those years belonged to Germany; now a territory of France), in the family of a poor Lutheran pastor Louis Schweitzer and his wife Adele, née Schillinger, also the daughter of a pastor. On his father's side he was J.-P.'s cousin. Sartre.

In 1884-1885, Albert studied at a real school in Münster, then at a gymnasium in Mühlhausen (1885-1893).

In October 1893, Schweitzer entered the University of Strasbourg, where he studied theology, philosophy and music theory simultaneously.

In 1894-1895 he was a soldier in the German army, while he continued to attend lectures on philosophy.

In the fall of 1898 - the spring of 1899, Albert Schweitzer lived in Paris, listened to lectures at the Sorbonne, wrote a dissertation on, took organ and piano lessons, in the summer of 1899 he continued his academic studies in Berlin and by the end of the year, having defended his dissertation in Strasbourg, received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy , and in 1900 - also the title of licentiate of theology.

In 1901, Schweitzer's first books on theology were published - “The Problem of the Last Supper, an analysis based on scientific research of the nineteenth century and on historical reports” and “The Mystery of Messianism and the Passion. Sketch of the Life of Jesus,” in the spring of 1902, he began teaching at the theological faculty of the University of Strasbourg.

In 1903, at one of his sermons, he met his future wife. Elena Breslau.

In 1905, Schweitzer decided to devote the rest of his life to medicine and became a student at the Faculty of Medicine of the same University of Strasbourg, while continuing his scientific works: in 1906, his theological study on the search for the “historical Jesus” was published entitled “From Reimarus to Wrede” and an essay about German and French organ building, he went on tour to Spain for the first time.

In 1908, his expanded and revised German version of Bach was published. He took an active part in the work of the organ section of the Vienna Congress of the International Musical Society.

In 1911, he passed the exams at the Faculty of Medicine and published a book about the mysticism of the Apostle Paul.

In 1912 he married Helena Breslau.

In 1913 he completed his dissertation on the topic "Psychiatric Assessment of the Personality of Jesus" and received his Doctor of Medicine degree.

On March 26, 1913, Albert Schweitzer and his wife, who had completed nursing courses, went to Africa. In the small village of Lambarene (Gabon province of the French colony of French Equatorial Africa, later the Republic of Gabon), he founded a hospital with his own modest funds.

During the First World War, he and his wife, as German subjects, were sent to French camps.

In 1918 he was released in exchange for French prisoners of war.

On January 14, 1919, on his birthday, 44-year-old Schweitzer became a father - Elena gave birth to his daughter Rena.

In 1919-1921 he worked at the city hospital in Strasbourg and gave organ concerts in major European cities.

In 1920-1924 he lectured in Sweden and other European countries, and became an honorary doctor of the University of Zurich. Tours and lectures allowed Dr. Schweitzer to pay off his war debts and raise some funds for the restoration of the hospital in Lambarene. And in 1923, his main philosophical work was published - "Philosophy of Culture" in 2 volumes.

In February 1924, Schweitzer returned to Africa, starting to build the destroyed hospital. Several doctors and nurses arrived from Europe and worked for free. By 1927, the new hospital was built, and in July Schweitzer returned to Europe, again taking up concert activities and lecturing.

In 1928, Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Frankfurt Goethe Prize, with funds from which a house was built in Günsbach, which became a resting place for the staff of the Lambarene Hospital.

In 1933-1939 he worked in Africa and periodically visited Europe to give lectures, organ concerts, and publish his books. At this time, several European universities awarded him honorary doctorates. After the outbreak of World War II, Schweitzer remained in Lambarenne and was only able to return to Europe in 1948.

In 1949, at the invitation of the University of Chicago, he visited the United States.

In 1953, Schweitzer received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, and with the funds received he built a village for lepers near Lambarene. Corresponding Member of the British Academy (1956).

In April 1957, Schweitzer spoke with "Appeal to humanity", calling on governments to stop testing nuclear weapons. In May 1957, Elena Breslau, the wife and colleague of Albert Schweitzer, dies.

After Schweitzer left for Lambarene forever in 1959, the hospital town became a place of pilgrimage for many people from all over the world. Until his very last days, he continued to receive patients, build a hospital and make appeals against nuclear testing. Albert Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965 in Lambarenne and was buried under the windows of his office next to his wife’s grave.

The hospital founded by Dr. Schweitzer still exists today, and still accepts and heals all those in need of help.

Bibliography of Albert Schweitzer:

"Kant's Philosophy of Religion" (1899; dissertation)
"The Problem of the Last Supper, an Analysis Based on Nineteenth-Century Scientific Research and Historical Accounts" (1901)
“The Mystery of Messiahship and Passions. Sketch of the Life of Jesus" (1901)
"The Question of the Historicity of Jesus" (1906)
"AND. S. Bach - musician and poet" and "Johann Sebastian Bach" (first edition - J.S.Bach, musicien-poète, in French in 1905; second expanded edition - Johann Sebastian Bach, in German in 1908)
"From Reimarus to Wrede" and "History of the Study of the Life of Jesus" (first edition - Von Reimarus zu Wrede in 1906; second edition - Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschuung in 1913)
“Psychiatric assessment of the personality of Jesus” (Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu, 1913, dissertation)
"The Ethics of Compassion." Sermons 15 and 16 (1919)
"Between Water and Virgin Forest" (Zwischen Wasser und Urwald, 1921)
“From my childhood and youth” (Aus meiner Kindheit und Jugendzeit, 1924)
“The Decline and Revival of Culture. Philosophy of culture. Part I." (Verfall und Wiederaufbau der Kultur. Kulturphilosophie. Erster Teil, 1923)
“Culture and ethics. Philosophy of culture. Part II." (Kultur und Ethik. Kulturphilosophie. Zweiter Teil, 1923)
“Christianity and the World Religions” (Das Christentum und die Weltreligionen, 1924)
"Letters from Lambarene" (1925-1927)
“The Construction Art of German and French Organs” (Deutsche und französische Orgelbaukunst und Orgelkunst, 1927)
"White Attitudes Towards the Colored Races" (1928)
"The Mysticism of the Apostles Paulus" (Die Mystik des Apostels Paulus; 1930)
"From my life and my thoughts" (Aus meinem Leben und Denken; autobiography; 1931)
"Religion in Modern Culture" (1934)
“The worldview of Indian thinkers. Mysticism and Ethics" (Die Weltanschauung der indischen Denker. Mystik und Ethik; 1935)
"On the State of Our Culture" (1947)
“Goethe. Four Speeches" (1950)
"Philosophy and the Animal Welfare Movement" (1950)
“The idea of ​​the Kingdom of God in the era of transformation of eschatological faith into non-eschatological faith” (1953)
"The problem of peace in the modern world." Nobel speech. (1954)
"The problem of ethics in the development of human thought." (1954-1955)
"African Stories" (Afrikanische Geschichten, 1955)
"Peace or atomic war" (1958)
"Tolstoy, Educator of Humanity" (1960)
"Humanity" (1961, published 1966)
Reflections on the philosophy of Lao Tzu. Fragments from various works.

Albert Schweitzer- German theologian, thinker, doctor, musician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate - was a native of Upper Alsace (at that time it was part of Germany), the city of Kaysersberg, where he was born on January 14, 1875 in the family of a pastor. Albert was a very musical child, he played the piano from the age of 5, and at 9 he played the organ in a village church. After studying at the Münster Real School (1884-1885), Schweitzer entered the Mühlhausen Gymnasium, after which he was enrolled in the University of Strasbourg in 1893, where he studied, in particular, theology and music theory at the Faculty of Philosophy.

In the autumn of 1898 he moved to Paris to study philosophy at the Sorbonne. In 1899, after defending his dissertation in Strasbourg, he became a doctor of philosophy, and the following year - a licentiate in theology. In 1901, Schweitzer's first theological works were published, and in the spring of the following year he was already a teacher at the Faculty of Theology in Strasbourg. In 1903, he met Elena Breslau, who would become his companion for the rest of his life. In 1906, the main theological work, “The Question of the Historical Jesus,” was published. At the same time, A. Schweitzer continued his activities in the field of music, and in 1911 he became a doctor of musicology.

As a 22-year-old young man, he vowed to himself that after 30 years, his main occupation in life would be direct service to humanity. To get closer to the goal, from 1905 to 1911. studied at the Medical College of the University of Strasbourg, in 1913 received the scientific degree of Doctor of Medicine, and then, together with his wife (his marriage to Breslau took place in 1912), he went to Africa, the province of Gabon, which was a French colony, where in the village of Lambarene for his own money opened a hospital.

During 1918-1924, having returned to Europe, Schweitzer gave organ concerts, worked for several years at the Strasbourg hospital, and gave lectures in a number of European countries. All this made it possible for him to repay the debts accumulated during the First World War and obtain some funds for an African hospital. In 1923, his main philosophical work, the two-volume “Philosophy of Culture,” was published.

Since 1924, Schweitzer's biography has been associated with an almost constant stay in Gabon. He visited Europe only for short visits, periodically giving concerts and giving lectures in order to spend them on a new hospital built in 1927. Using the Frankfurt Goethe Prize he received in 1928, he built a house for hospital staff. From the beginning of World War II to 1948, Schweitzer was not in Europe, and in 1949 he paid a visit to the United States. In 1952, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, which he spent on building a leper colony at the hospital.

At the end of his life, A. Schweitzer actively opposed nuclear weapons testing, advocated disarmament, and made a special “Address to Humanity.” In 1965, on September 4, Albert Schweitzer died in Lambarene. The remains rest next to his wife’s grave under the windows of his office.

Biography from Wikipedia

Albert Schweitzer(German Albert Schweitzer; January 14, 1875, Kaysersberg, Upper Alsace - September 4, 1965, Lambarene) - German and French Protestant theologian, cultural philosopher, humanist, musician and doctor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1952).

Schweitzer was born in Kaysersberg (Upper Alsace, which in those years belonged to Germany; now a territory of France), in the family of a poor Lutheran pastor Louis Schweitzer and his wife Adele, née Schillinger, also the daughter of a pastor. On his father's side he was J.-P.'s cousin. Sartre.

In 1884-1885, Albert studied at a real school in Münster, then at a gymnasium in Mühlhausen (1885-1893).

In October 1893, Schweitzer entered the University of Strasbourg, where he studied theology, philosophy and music theory simultaneously.

In 1894-1895 he was a soldier in the German army, while he continued to attend lectures on philosophy. In the autumn of 1898 - spring of 1899, Albert Schweitzer lived in Paris, listened to lectures at the Sorbonne, wrote a dissertation on Kant, took organ and piano lessons, in the summer of 1899 he continued his academic studies in Berlin and by the end of the year, having defended his dissertation in Strasbourg, received his doctorate philosophy, and in 1900 - also the title of licentiate in theology.

In 1901, Schweitzer's first books on theology were published - “The Problem of the Last Supper, an analysis based on scientific research of the nineteenth century and on historical reports” and “The Mystery of Messianism and the Passion. Sketch of the Life of Jesus", in the spring of 1902 he began teaching at the theological faculty of the University of Strasbourg.

In 1903, at one of his sermons, he met his future wife, Elena Breslau.

In 1905, Schweitzer decided to devote the rest of his life to medicine and became a student at the Faculty of Medicine of the same University of Strasbourg, while continuing his scientific works: in 1906, his theological study on the search for the “historical Jesus” was published entitled “From Reimarus to Wrede” and an essay about German and French organ building, he went on tour to Spain for the first time. In 1908, his expanded and revised German version of Bach was published. He took an active part in the work of the organ section of the Vienna Congress of the International Musical Society.

In 1911, he passed exams at the Faculty of Medicine and published a book about the mysticism of the Apostle Paul.

In 1912 he married Helena Breslau.

In 1913 he completed his dissertation on the topic “Psychiatric Assessment of the Personality of Jesus” and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

On March 26, 1913, Albert Schweitzer and his wife, who had completed nursing courses, went to Africa. In the small village of Lambarene (Gabon province of the French colony of French Equatorial Africa, later the Republic of Gabon), he founded a hospital with his own modest funds.

During the First World War, he and his wife, as German subjects, were sent to French camps. In 1918 he was released in exchange for French prisoners of war. On January 14, 1919, on his birthday, 44-year-old Schweitzer became a father - Elena gave birth to a daughter, Rena.

In 1919-1921 he worked at the city hospital in Strasbourg and gave organ concerts in major European cities. In 1920-1924 he lectured in Sweden and other European countries, and became an honorary doctor of the University of Zurich. Tours and lectures allowed Dr. Schweitzer to pay off his war debts and raise some funds for the restoration of the hospital in Lambarene. And in 1923, his main philosophical work was published - “Philosophy of Culture” in 2 volumes.

In February 1924, Schweitzer returned to Africa, starting to build the destroyed hospital. Several doctors and nurses arrived from Europe and worked for free. By 1927, the new hospital was built, and in July Schweitzer returned to Europe, again taking up concert activities and lecturing.

In 1928, Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Frankfurt Goethe Prize, with funds from which a house was built in Günsbach, which became a resting place for the staff of the Lambarene Hospital.

In 1933-1939 he worked in Africa and periodically visited Europe to give lectures, organ concerts, and publish his books. At this time, several European universities awarded him honorary doctorates. After the outbreak of World War II, Schweitzer remained in Lambarenne and was only able to return to Europe in 1948.

In 1949, at the invitation of the University of Chicago, he visited the United States.

In 1953, Schweitzer won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, and with the funds received he built a leper village near Lambarene. Corresponding Member of the British Academy (1956).

In April 1957, Schweitzer delivered an “Address to Humanity,” calling on governments to stop testing nuclear weapons. In May 1957, Elena Breslau, the wife and colleague of Albert Schweitzer, dies.

After Schweitzer left for Lambarene forever in 1959, the hospital town became a place of pilgrimage for many people from all over the world. Until his very last days, he continued to receive patients, build a hospital and make appeals against nuclear testing.

Albert Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965 in Lambarenne and was buried under the windows of his office next to his wife’s grave.

The hospital founded by Dr. Schweitzer still exists today, and still accepts and heals all those in need of help.

Schweitzer theologian

Schweitzer was very interested in the search for the historical Jesus - evangelical criticism. Through the description and criticism of these searches he became very famous. A representative of the liberal movement. The understanding of Christianity in his thought seems to be very diverse. Christ for Schweitzer is just a man. He believed that all the actions that Christ performed depended on Christ's subjective belief that the end of the world was near. This eschatological interpretation of the Gospel by Schweitzer is intended to cleanse Christianity from metaphysics: from the belief that Christ is God. In the work “The History of the Study of the Life of Jesus,” he examined the basic concepts of Gospel history. He shows that the image that the apostles build is only a variant of the interpretation of Christianity. A subtle psychologist, Schweitzer showed in his works that the apostles each in their own way layered their ideas about the ideal personality on the personality of Jesus. This work of Schweitzer stopped the movement of the search for the historical Jesus for a long time, because the final line had been drawn for them.

Schweitzer the musician

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Schweitzer was known as an organist and musicologist. Even during his years of study in Paris, he surprised his teacher Charles Marie Widor with his reflections on Bach’s chorale preludes from the point of view of the peculiarities of how they reflect those biblical subjects to which the corresponding chorale refers - this approach was completely uncharacteristic for musicology of that time. In general, Schweitzer was most interested in Bach’s legacy and the reflection of Bach’s religiosity in it. The style of performance of Bach's organ pieces developed by Schweitzer, based on simplicity and asceticism, was summarized by him in the book “Johann Sebastian Bach” (1905, expanded edition 1908); In addition, together with Widor, he prepared a new edition of Bach's complete organ works. In 1906, Schweitzer wrote about the current state of organ performance in Europe, anticipating the subsequent turn from a romantic interpretation of the instrument to its Baroque roots.

Schweitzer the philosopher

According to Schweitzer, the moral content of culture is its core, its supporting structure. Therefore, “ethical progress is essential and undoubted, while material progress is less significant and less undoubted in the development of culture.” The discrepancy in the pace of development of the spiritual and material spheres of culture, according to Schweitzer, is a real contradiction, which is one of the driving forces of its progress. But the nature of the development of culture is negatively affected not only by society’s absolutization of its material side. The predominance of the spiritual sphere in Indian and Chinese cultures for a long time hampered the progress of their material side. Schweitzer advocated for the harmonious development of all aspects, all spheres of culture, with the indispensable primacy of its moral side. That is why the thinker himself called his concept of culture moralistic.

According to Schweitzer, the deepest crisis in which modern Western culture as a whole finds itself and continues to find itself cannot be successfully overcome and humanity will not be able not only to stop decadence, but also to achieve complete spiritual “recovery” (rebirth) until The human “I” will not become aware of itself and will not begin to act everywhere and in everything as “life wanting to live among life.”

Schweitzer the humanist

Living such a sacrificial life, he never reproached anyone. On the contrary, I really felt sorry for people who, due to circumstances, cannot devote their lives to others. And he always encouraged them to take advantage of every opportunity to do good. “There is no person who would not have the opportunity to give himself to people and thereby demonstrate his human essence. Anyone who takes advantage of every opportunity to be human by doing something for those who need help - no matter how humble his activity may be - can save his life.” Schweitzer believed that a person has no right to judge anyone but himself, and the only thing he can preach is his way of life.

Essays

• "Kant's Philosophy of Religion" (1899; dissertation),
• "The Problem of the Last Supper, an Analysis Based on Nineteenth-Century Scientific Research and Historical Accounts" (1901),
• “The Mystery of Messiahship and Passions. Sketch of the Life of Jesus" (1901),
• "The Question of the Historicity of Jesus" (1906),
• "AND. S. Bach - musician and poet" and "Johann Sebastian Bach" (first edition - J.S.Bach, musicien-poète, in French in 1905; second expanded edition - Johann Sebastian Bach, in German in 1908),
• "From Reimarus to Wrede" and "History of the Study of the Life of Jesus" (first edition - Von Reimarus zu Wrede in 1906; second edition - Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschuung in 1913),
• “Psychiatric assessment of the personality of Jesus” (Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu, 1913, dissertation),
• "The Ethics of Compassion." Sermons 15 and 16 (1919)
• “Between Water and Virgin Forest” (Zwischen Wasser und Urwald, 1921),
• “From my childhood and youth” (Aus meiner Kindheit und Jugendzeit, 1924),
• “The Decline and Revival of Culture. Philosophy of culture. Part I." (Verfall und Wiederaufbau der Kultur. Kulturphilosophie. Erster Teil, 1923),
• “Culture and ethics. Philosophy of culture. Part II." (Kultur und Ethik. Kulturphilosophie. Zweiter Teil, 1923),
• “Christianity and the World Religions” (Das Christentum und die Weltreligionen, 1924),
• "Letters from Lambarene" (1925-1927),
• “The Construction Art of German and French Organs” (Deutsche und französische Orgelbaukunst und Orgelkunst, 1927),
• "Attitude of Whites towards the Colored Races" (1928),
• “The Mysticism of the Apostles Paulus” (Die Mystik des Apostels Paulus; 1930),
• "From my life and my thoughts" (Aus meinem Leben und Denken; autobiography; 1931),
• "Religion in Modern Culture" (1934),
• “The worldview of Indian thinkers. Mysticism and Ethics" (Die Weltanschauung der indischen Denker. Mystik und Ethik; 1935),
• “On the State of Our Culture” (1947),
• “Goethe. Four Speeches" (1950),
• "Philosophy and the Animal Welfare Movement" (1950),
• “The idea of ​​the Kingdom of God in the era of transformation of eschatological faith into non-eschatological faith” (1953),
• "The problem of peace in the modern world." Nobel speech. (1954),
• "The problem of ethics in the development of human thought." (1954-1955),
• "African Stories" (Afrikanische Geschichten, 1955),
• “Peace or atomic war” (Peace or atomic war, 1958),
• “Tolstoy, Educator of Humanity” (1960),
• "Humanity" (1961, published 1966)
• Reflections on the Philosophy of Lao Tzu. Fragments from various works.

Schweitzer about himself

• I was born during a period of spiritual decline of humanity.
• From my childhood and youth (fragment)

Albert SCHWEITZER
(1875–1965)

SCHWEITZER, ALBERT(Schweitzer, Albert) (1875–1965), theologian, philosopher, musician and physician. Born on January 14, 1875 in Kaysersberg (Upper Alsace, then a territory of Germany) in the family of a poor Lutheran pastor. He spent his childhood in the village of Günsbach in the Münster valley (near Colmar), studied the organ from an early age, attended a real school in Münster, and a gymnasium in Mühlhausen. In 1883 he entered the University of Strasbourg, where he attended lectures by V. Windelband. After graduating from the university, he defended dissertations for the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (1899) and Licentiate of Theology (1900). He defended his habilitation (i.e., giving the right to teach) thesis in theology in 1902. During his studies, he regularly traveled to Paris, where he took lessons in playing the organ and piano. In Strasbourg he played a lot on the organ in the Church of St. Wilhelm. He was fond of the music of J. S. Bach and R. Wagner. He played organs in Berlin, Paris and other European cities. In 1902 he was appointed assistant parish pastor in Strasbourg, and in 1903 he headed the St. Thomas. He was engaged in teaching, gave lectures on Schopenhauer, Hartmann, Sudermann, Goethe, Nietzsche and other thinkers. Published a work in French J. S. Bach - musician and poet (J.S.Bach, musicien-poite, 1905), in 1908 a revised and expanded edition was published in German under the title Johann Sebastian Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach). This book and also History of the Study of the Life of Jesus (Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschuung, 2nd edition 1913; the first edition was published in 1906 under the title From Reimarus to Vrede (Von Reimarus zu Wrede) brought him wide fame.
In his autobiography, published in 1931, Schweitzer wrote: “One morning in Günsbach, I told myself that until the age of thirty I consider myself entitled to preach sermons, study science and music, but after this milestone I will devote myself directly to serving people.” Schweitzer never participated in “social” activities, thought of himself outside the existing real world and did not seek to change it; he created his own picture of the world - one in which he could live in accordance with his own ideas. By the time Schweitzer reached the age of 30, he was a famous theologian, teacher and preacher, a recognized expert on J. S. Bach and organ construction. Nevertheless, he abandoned his favorite activities and began studying medicine. For many years, his slogan became: “First I must cure people, and only then bring them the word of God.” After completing a course at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Strasbourg (1905–1912), Schweitzer received the degree of Doctor of Medicine (1913, dissertation topic - Psychiatric Assessment of the Personality of Jesus) and, having collected minimal funds to organize a sanitary station, went to Africa. In 1913, he managed to create a hospital in the village of Lambarene on the Ogove River in the French colony of French Equatorial Africa (in the province of Gabon, at that time the French Congo, later the Republic of Gabon).
During the First World War, as an Alsatian, and therefore a German subject, he was interned and sent to a camp in France. In 1918, after Alsace-Lorraine became part of the French state, Schweitzer accepted French citizenship. For some time he gave organ concerts and lectures in Europe, collected funds that allowed him to pay off his debts, improved his health, which had been shaken in the French camps, and resumed work on philosophical works. Schweitzer was especially popular in Sweden, where many people from all over the country flocked to his lectures. From that time on, a kind of “cult of Schweitzer” began, thanks to which for many years it was possible to maintain the activities of the hospital in Lambarene. Schweitzer's emphatically Spartan lifestyle contributed to saving money. In 1923, a book started in Gabon was published Culture and ethics, in which the thinker expressed his main idea.
Analyzing the current state of European culture, Schweitzer wondered why the worldview, based on a life-affirming principle, turned from initially moral into immoral. “This can only be explained by the fact that this worldview did not have genuine roots in theoretical thought. The ideas that gave birth to him were noble, emotional, but not deep. They did not so much prove the fact of the connection between the ethical principle and the life-affirming principle, but rather intuitively grasped it. Therefore, while supporting the life-affirming and moral principles, theoretical thought did not truly explore either one or the other, or the internal connection between them.”
An idea that embraces both life affirmation and ethics was Schweitzer’s concept of “reverence for life,” a monument to which was the hospital built in Lambarene, virtually with the philosopher’s own hands. Schweitzer wrote: “I am life that wants to live, in the midst of other lives that want to live.” The following from this “life affirmation is a spiritual act... during which a person stops living as he has to and begins to reverently surrender to life in order to reveal its true value.” “At the same time, a person who has now become a thinker feels the need to treat any will to life with the same reverence as his own. He feels another life as part of his own. He considers it a blessing to preserve life, to help it; to raise life capable of development to the highest level; evil - to destroy life, harm it, suppress life capable of development. This is the main absolute principle of ethics."
Among other works in which he developed this idea are: Decline and revival of culture. Philosophy of culture (Verfall und Wiederaufbau der Kultur. Kultur und Ethik, 1923); The mysticism of the Apostle Paul (Die Mystik des Apostels Paulus, 1930); autobiography of Schweitzer From my life and my thoughts (Aus meinem Leben und Denken, 1931); Worldview of Indian thinkers. Mysticism and ethics (Die Weltanschauung der indischen Denker. Mystik und Ethik, 1935).
Schweitzer, in his own pragmatic way, noted that “personal example is not just the best method of persuasion, but the only one.” Often his ability to persuade, which forced people to donate sometimes significant sums to support the hospital, caused irritation and accusations of self-promotion and a desire to make himself a symbol of mercy. At some point, he was labeled a “monster of mercy.” In February 1924, the thinker again went to Africa. The completely destroyed hospital had to be rebuilt in another place, but this time Schweitzer had more volunteer help. Soon several doctors and nurses from Europe arrived. Everyone who arrived in Lambarene refused to receive a salary or any other remuneration. By 1927, a new hospital was built that could accommodate a much larger number of patients. Soon the village of Lambarene gained world fame, and Schweizer bitterly stated that “the truth also has to be organized.”
In July 1927, Schweitzer returned to Europe, where he continued lecturing and performing at concerts. In Europe, he was expected to be recognized and awarded honorary prizes and titles by major universities. For the Goethe Prize, Schweitzer built a house in Günsbach, which became a resting place for Lambarene staff, and later a memorial to the thinker. During the 1930s, he traveled to Africa several times, overseeing the ever-expanding hospital as it became a large hospital. Despite the hardships of wartime, the Schweitzer Hospital survived World War II, continuing to operate as before. Schweitzer was able to return to Europe only in 1948, having stayed in Lambarenne for ten long years. In 1949, at the invitation of the University of Chicago, he visited the United States. In the 1950s, the thinker began to enjoy truly worldwide fame - educational institutions, streets and even ships were named after him. In 1953, Schweitzer won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize and used the funds to build a leper village near Lambarene. In 1957 he made an “Address to Humanity,” calling on governments to stop testing nuclear weapons, and subsequently did not stop reminding of the atomic threat. After Schweitzer left for Lambarene forever in 1959, the hospital town became a place of pilgrimage for many people from all over the world.
Schweitzer died in Lambarenne on September 4, 1965.
(From the encyclopedia "Around the World")

Works: (prepared by Alexander Prodan)

Boris Nosik. Book "Schweitzer" (Doc-rar 367 kb) (series "Life of Remarkable People")
Albert Schweitzer. Work "The Worldview of Indian Thinkers. Mysticism and Ethics" (Doc-rar 27 kb), translation by M. S. Kharitonov
From the autobiographical writings of A. Schweitzer. “...I was born during a period of spiritual decline of humanity” (Doc-rar 41 kb), translation by E. E. Nechaeva-Grasse
Nobel speech and articles of different years "...People and nations must learn to think in a new way..." (Doc-rar 32 kb), translation by E. E. Nechaeva-Grasse and N. A. Zakharchenko
A. A. Guseinov. Essay "Reverence for Life: The Gospel According to Schweitzer" (Doc-rar 38 kb)
Yu. A. Levada. Essay "Old Fashionedness and Modernity of Albert Schweitzer" (Doc-rar 16 kb)
M. S. Kharitonov. Essay "Albert Schweitzer's Ethics and Indian Thought" (Doc-rar 10 kb)
Boris Gilenson. Essay "The Good Man from Lambarene" (Doc-rar 22 kb)

Albert Schweitzer. Journalism "Letters from Lambarene" (Doc-rar 629 kb), translation and notes by A. M. Shadrin, S. A. Tarkhanova, V. A. Petritsky

Publisher's abstract:
Albert Schweitzer remained in the memory of mankind as one of the most prominent fighters for peace. At the beginning of the century, he shared and supported the anti-war position of Romain Rolland. Schweitzer's anti-war activities reached a special rise after the Second World War, in the fifties and sixties. Schweitzer was one of the first in the West to raise his voice against the use of atomic weapons. He wrote about the terrible consequences of nuclear tests that affect the health of people living on earth and threaten future generations with their destructive power.

From the editor

BETWEEN WATER AND VIRGINAL FOREST

I. How I came to become a doctor in a virgin forest. Ogowe. Country and people
II. Drive
III. First impressions and experiences
IV. From July 1913 to January 1914
V. From January to June 1914
VI. Logging and rafting in a virgin forest
VII. Social problems of virgin forest
VIII. Christmas 1914
IX. Christmas 1915
X. About missionaries
XI. Conclusion

LETTERS FROM LAMBARENE 1924-1937

Notebook one. From spring to autumn 1924
I. Travel
II. First months in Lambarene

Notebook two. From autumn 1924 to autumn 1925
III. Late autumn and Christmas 1924
IV. Winter and spring 1925
V. Summer 1925
VI. Autumn 1925

Notebook three. From autumn 1925 to summer 1927
VII. Late autumn and winter 1925. At the construction site
VIII. Late autumn and winter 1925. In the hospital
IX. 1926 At the construction site
X. 1926. In the hospital
XI. In the new hospital. 1927

Letters 1930-1937

MORE ABOUT LAMBARENA

Hospital

Twenty-five years of hospital experience
African Diary 1939-1945
Hospital in Lambarene from autumn 1945 to spring 1954
Weekday in Lambarene

About rains and good weather at the equator
African hunting stories
Oyembo, school teacher in the virgin forest
Speech given at Andende

ADDITION

Peace or nuclear war
End inhumane beliefs! End atomic weapons!
Letter from A. Schweitzer to N. S. Khrushchev
Speech by Albert Bongo at the funeral of Albert Schweitzer on September 5, 1965.

APPLICATIONS

V. A. Petritsky. Albert Schweitzer and his "Letters from Lambarene"
D. A. Olderogge. Albert Schweitzer in Gabon
Notes (A. M. Shadrin)
Some dates of the life and work of Albert Schweitzer (A. M. Shadrin)
Schweitzer in the USSR. Bibliography

Paul Fryer. Book "Albert Schweitzer. Picture of Life" (Doc-rar 146 kb), translation by S. A. Tarkhanova, executive editor and author of the afterword V. A. Petritsky

Publisher's abstract:
The book by the GDR writer Paul Freier, a friend of Albert Schweitzer, tells the story of the development of the personality of a man who devoted his life to caring for disadvantaged Africans. As part of the biographical sketch, the author depicts the ideological and political evolution of the great humanist, which led him to the ranks of participants in the World Peace Movement.

From the author
Introduction
Childhood
School and student years
Paris and Berlin
Years of creativity
Solution
To Africa!
Lambarene
Reverence for life
Internment camp
Back in Alsace
Changes
The Great Challenge
Pessimist, full of hope
The price of human life
Worship and blasphemy
Last years
What's left
Notes
V. A. Petritsky. Life is an argument.

Article "Christianity and world religions" - sent by Vitaly Adamenko
Article "Religion in modern culture" - sent by Vitaly Adamenko

“I will talk about the place of religion in the spiritual life and culture of our time. The question that must be answered first of all is the following: is religion an effective force in the spiritual life of our century? On my own behalf and on yours, I answer: “No!” Religion still exists in this world; it is concentrated in the Church; there are many devout people among us. Christianity still has something to say about its work aimed at increasing love and solving social problems - work in which it can be proud. The desire for religion is seen in many people who do not belong to any of the churches. I am gladly ready to agree with all this. And yet the fact remains: religion is not a force. The proof? War!
(Fragment)

Memoirs "Life and Thoughts" - sent by Vitaly Adamenko

“Although it took me some effort to learn to read and write, I was in fairly good standing at the schools in Günsbach and Münster. However, at the gymnasium I initially turned out to be a bad student, and not only because I was lazy and indulged in daydreaming, but also and because private Latin lessons did not give me sufficient preparation for the 2nd grade of the gymnasium. And only thanks to my teacher in the 3rd grade, Dr. Veman, who taught me how to work correctly and gave me some confidence in my abilities, my things went well better. But the main reason for the influence that Dr. Veman had on me was that from the very first days of classes with him, I saw that he prepared with the utmost care for each lesson. He became for me a model of how to fulfill my duty. Subsequently, I visited him many times. At the end of the war, finding myself in Strasbourg, where he spent the last years of his life, I immediately made inquiries about him. I learned that as a result of starvation he had developed a nervous disease, and he ended his life yourself."
(Fragment)