Albert Schweitzer. The doctor never entirely left the pursuit of music and became well known as a virtuoso on the keyboard and pipes, especially when he played the works of Bach. Schweitzer maintained that the life of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions, which reflected late Jewish eschatology and apocalypticism. For example, he once said, The African is indeed my brother, but my junior brother. On other occasions, he opined, I let the Africans pick all the fruit they want. This house is now maintained as a Schweitzer museum.[78]. Schweitzer regarded most native Africans as children, as primitives. 1924 In 1924 he returned to his hospital in Lambarene, which was to be restored after years of decay during his absence. What It Does For over 60 years, HAS has helped develop a local health system in the rural Artibonite Valley of central Haiti. There was great demand for a German edition, but, instead of translating it, he decided to rewrite it. For years I had been giving myself out in words. Albert Schweitzer Occupation: Doctor Place Of Birth: France Date Of Birth: January14, 1875 Date Of Death: September 4, 1965 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: French Albert Schweitzer was born on the 14th of January, 1875. Dr. Howard Markel [26] This provided the basis for the International Regulations for Organ Building. Albert Schweitzer, 90, Dies at His Hospital; Doctor Won Nobel Peace Prize for Work in Africa He Was Also Noted as Musician and Theologian Albert Schweitzer, Felled by Exhaustion, Dies at. J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A major, BWV 536; Prelude and Fugue in F minor, BWV 534; Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544; Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538. be cited than the fact--regarded locally as something of a miracle--of his own survival.". [80] With the $33,000 prize money, he started the leprosarium at Lambarn. [73], Such was the theory which Schweitzer sought to put into practice in his own life. At this time Schweitzer, born a German citizen, had his parents' former (pre-1871) French citizenship reinstated and became a French citizen. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. He made the Africans too lazy to pick them bare.. He returned to Africa alone in 1925, his wife and daughter, Rhena, who was born in 1919, remaining in Europe. Widely honored with degrees, citations, scrolls, medals, special stamps, even the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1952, he seemed oblivious to panoply. In January 1937, he returned again to Lambarn and continued working there throughout World War II. He also noted the lack of Africans trained to be skilled workers. Date of birth. His co-workers To me, Dr. Schweitzer is the one truly great individuals our modern times have produced. Once, for instance, he all but halted the station's work when he received a letter from a Norwegian child seeking a feather from Parsifal, his pet pelican. Footnote 35 Not only has Jesus, according to Schweitzer, by his death and apparent failure, . As a music scholar and organist, he studied the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and influenced the Organ Reform Movement (Orgelbewegung). The mid-side sees a figure-8 microphone pointed off-axis, perpendicular to the sound source. [20] Ernst Cassirer, a contemporaneous German philosopher, called it "one of the best interpretations" of Bach. Biography - A Short Wiki Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 08:10, Jesus as depicted by the historical-critical method, Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Association Internationale Albert Schweitzer, Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Religion & the Treatment of God's Creatures", "Review of "The Mystery of the Kingdom of God", "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", "Albert Schweitzer and Henry Fonda's Lost Special", "List of Members of the Order of Merit, past and present", "History of Vegetarianism Dr Albert Schweitzer (18751965)", "Knigsfeld feiert ?Schweitzer-Erben? The maladies the Schweitzers treated were both horrific and deadly. He also set in motion important ideas concerning our ethical treatment of animals . All Rights Reserved. ~ Albert Schweitzer. were quite familiar with the businesslike and sometimes grumpy and brusque Schweitzer in a solar hat who hurried along the construction of a building by gingering up the native craftsmen with a sharp: "Allez-vous OPP! He goes quietly, in peace and dignity. The name of Jesus has become a curse, and our Christianityyours and minehas become a falsehood and a disgrace, if the crimes are not atoned for in the very place where they were instigated. That said, Dr. Schweitzer did devote more than half a century to practicing medicine in a remote location where few of his colleagues would dare to visit and for people who desperately needed medical care. 9 Department of Cardiology and . in 1913. Next, Schweitzer poses the question: "Of what precise kind then is the mysticism of Paul?" years to science and art and then devote himself to the service of suffering humanity. His pamphlet "The Art of Organ Building and Organ Playing in Germany and France" (1906,[25] republished with an appendix on the state of the organ-building industry in 1927) effectively launched the 20th-century Orgelbewegung, which turned away from romantic extremes and rediscovered baroque principlesalthough this sweeping reform movement in organ building eventually went further than Schweitzer had intended. Albert Schweitzer's engagement with Judaism, and with the Jewish community more generally, has never been the subject of substantive discussion. Under this title the book became famous in the English-speaking world. His death, political upheavals leading to Gabon's independence in 1960, decreasing foreign . Dives represented opulent Europe, and Lazarus, with his open sores, the sick and helpless of Africa. The University of Tubingen published the dissertation that resulted in 1899. degree in February, 1913, Schweitzer studied medicine, but he did not entirely cut himself off from his other worlds. His name and legacy continue to live on around the world. Indeed, he was a true polymath. side by side! He was however also a theologian, organist, philosopher, and physician. 1. As he said at age 40, he "was not going to speak or talk any longer." His death was attributed to circulatory trouble brought on by his advanced age. and time, making him inwardly free, so that he is fitted to be, in his own world and in his own time, a simple channel of the power of Jesus.". He was German and French and is known for his charitable work including opening a hospital in Africa. The years thinned and grayed his hair (without making '"[72] In nature one form of life must always prey upon another. Allez-vous, OPP-opp. For example, in 1950, biographer Magnus C. Ratter commented that Schweitzer never "commit[ted] himself to the anti-vivisection, vegetarian, or pacifist positions, though his thought leads in this direction". Indeed, Schweitzer became a notable organist, especially in the works of Bach. 2 in B minor; no. To the end, his one frustration was that he had not succeeded in convincing the world to abolish nuclear weapons. [88] Biographer James Bentley has written that Schweitzer became a vegetarian after his wife's death in 1957 and he was "living almost entirely on lentil soup". ~ Albert Schweitzer. It was about 200 miles away from the mouth of the Ogoou River at Port Gentil (now Cape Lopez). The Jesus of Nazareth who came forward publicly as the Messiah, who preached the ethic of the Kingdom of God, who founded the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, and died to give His work its final consecration, never had any existence. Albert Schweitzer. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude." ~ Albert Schweitzer. At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. the United States and lectured on Goethe at a conference in Aspen, Colo. I can do no other than to have compassion for all that is called life. Description and criticism] (published in English in 1948 as The Psychiatric Study of Jesus. Bartolf, Christian; Gericke, Marion; Miething, Dominique (2020): This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 08:10. [89] In contrast to this, historian David N. Stamos has written that Schweitzer was not a vegetarian in his personal life nor imposed it on his missionary hospital but he did help animals and was opposed to hunting. Alfalfa, the. Starting from its principle, founded on world and life denial, of abstention from action, ancient Indian thought and this is a period when in other respects ethics have not progressed very far reaches the tremendous discovery that ethics know no bounds. Schweitzer's arrival at this decision was calculated, a step in a quest for a faith to live by. As a person, Schweitzer was a curious mixture. Schweitzer also studied piano under Isidor Philipp, head of the piano department at the Paris Conservatory. In this time and the succeeding months Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was a brilliant philosopher, physician, musician, clergyman and theological scholar. Schweitzer inspired actor Hugh O'Brian when O'Brian visited in Africa. This image has not been destroyed from outside; it has fallen to pieces[37], Instead of these liberal and romantic views, Schweitzer wrote that Jesus and his followers expected the imminent end of the world.[38]. out, including Schweitzer's pet parrot (which was not taught to talk because that would lower its dignity) and a hippopotamus that once invaded the vegetable garden. for his altruism, reverence for life, and tireless humanitarian work which has helped making the idea of brotherhood between men and nations a living one (English) In the Preface to Civilization and Ethics (1923) he argued that Western philosophy from Descartes to Kant had set out to explain the objective world expecting that humanity would be found to have a special meaning within it. the neighboring village of Gunsbach amid the foothills of the Vosges. Albert entered the Kaiser Wilhelm University of Strasbourg at age 18. It was a search that had haunted him, driven him, since childhood. Schweitzer was born 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg in Alsace, in what had less than four years previously become the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine in the German Empire after being French for more than two centuries; he later became a citizen of France after World War I, when Alsace became French territory again. [6] The tiny village would become home to the Association Internationale Albert Schweitzer (AIAS). The epidemic promoted There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. On one occasion a group of tourists pulled him away from the dinner table to get an explanation of his ethics. Dr. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting momentous historical events that continue to shape modern medicine. On Oct. 13, 1905, he posted letters from Paris to his parents and friends saying that at the start of the winter term he would become a medical student to prepare himself His contributions to the interpretation of Pauline Christianity concern the role of Paul's mysticism of "being in Christ" as primary and the doctrine of justification by faith as secondary. the faculty at Strasbourg; wrote "The Mystery of the Kingdom of God"; and, at Widor's urging, completed a study of the life and art of Johann Sebastian Bach. cit., Philips ABL 3134, issued September 1956. The film The Legacy of Albert Schweitzer, narrated by Henry Fonda, was produced by Warner Brothers and aired once. Success is not the key to happiness. The Bach titles were mainly distributed as follows: Later recordings were made at Parish church, Gnsbach: These recordings were made by C. Robert Fine during the time Dr. Schweitzer was being filmed in Gnsbach for the documentary "Albert Schweitzer". Quotes about Schweitzer [] He simply acted out of inner necessity. On the other hand, the Hellenist "lives on the store of experience which he acquired in the initiation" and is not continually affected by a shared communal experience.[47]. Lecturing widely on the problems of peace, Dr. Schweitzer told his wide audience, The end of further experiments with atom bombs would be like the early sunrays of hope which suffering humanity is longing for., Not all was sunny with Schweitzers social commentary. Lambarene resembled not so much a hospital as a native village where physicians cared for the sick. Although Schweitzer's views on Africa were out of date, he did what no man had done before him--he healed thousands and he welded world attention on Africa's many plights. of self-unfolding of the idea in which it creates its own opposite in order to overcome it, and so on and on until it finally returns to itself, having meanwhile traversed the whole of existence.". Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself. "At the very moment when, at sunset, we were making our way through a herd of hippopotamuses, there flashed upon my mind, unforeseen and unsought, the phrase 'Reverence September 24, 1965 1965 T he death of Albert Schweitzer on September 4 brought down the curtain on one of the greatest of human dramas. Schweitzer maintained, nonetheless, that Jesus' concepts were eternal. Dr. Howard Markel. His life was portrayed in the 1952 movie Il est minuit, Docteur Schweitzer, starring Pierre Fresnay as Albert Schweitzer and Jeanne Moreau as his nurse Marie. : "I see in him one of the most eminent geniuses in the history of medicine. 8 Department of Cardiology II -Electrophysiology; University of Mnster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Gebude A1, D-48149 Mnster, Germany. Through concerts and other fund-raising, he was ready to equip a small hospital. Albert Schweitzer was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1875. [68], American journalist John Gunther visited Lambarn in the 1950s and reported Schweitzer's patronizing attitude towards Africans. He was theologian, musicologist, organ technician, physician and surgeon, missionary, philosopher of ethics, lecturer, writer and the builder and 171,135 Swedish krona. Albert founded Albert Schweitzer Hospital located in Gabon. During his compulsory military service in 1894, Schweitzer had an epiphany of sorts while reading the Book of Matthew, Chapters 10 and 11 (in Greek, no less). His father and both grandfathers were pastors and organists. Albert Schweitzer, born 1875 in Kaysersb erg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine in the German Empire, is perhaps mostly remembered for his work in Africa as a missionary. He also studied piano at that time with Marie Jall. received, "freely give"; and the verse that urges men, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.". Actually, Schweitzer preferred (and planned) it in this fashion on the ground that the natives would shun an elaborate, shiny and impersonal institution. at the drop of a cause. And so he proceeded to build a hospital appropriate to the needs of junior brothers with standards of hygiene reminiscent of medical practice in the days before the germ theory of disease came into being."[63]. [83] He was also a chevalier of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. He was made an honorary member of the British Order of Merit in 1955. [48] He explains, "only the man who is elected thereto can enter into relation with God". It could then affirm a new Enlightenment through spiritual rationalism, by giving priority to volition or ethical will as the primary meaning of life. Schweitzer based his interpretation on his profound knowledge of personality, education, religious and social life of Bach. [39][failed verification] He wrote that in his view, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus speaks of a "tribulation", with his "coming in the clouds with great power and glory" (St. Mark), and states that it will happen but it has not: "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (St. Matthew, 24:34) or, "have taken place" (Luke 21:32). [41] Primitive mysticism "has not yet risen to a conception of the universal, and is still confined to naive views of earthly and super-earthly, temporal and eternal". Heart disease was an uncommon cause of death in the US at the beginning of the 20th century. point in time. This new form of activity I could not represent to myself as talking chief force of the famous hospital at Lambarene, in Gabon, the former French Equatorial Africa. which the chorale itself came. [69] By comparison, his English contemporary Albert Ruskin Cook in Uganda had been training nurses and midwives since the 1910s, and had published a manual of midwifery in the local language of Luganda. Albert Schweitzer born The theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer is born on January 14, 1875 in Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin, France).. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images, In 1905, he decided to take up a call from the Society of Evangelist Missions of Paris to become a physician and help them advance their cause and work. Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a physician, philosopher, theologian, organist and humanitarian. Explaining his decision later in more mundane terms, Schweitzer said: "I wanted to be a doctor that I might be able to work without having to talk. . Agriculture, not science or industrialization, is their greatest need. Fine originally self-released the recordings but later licensed the masters to Columbia. full expression in the 18th century.". . ", "The Jesus of Nazareth . If Schweitzer was thin-skinned to criticism from irreverent journalists, he heard little of it at Lambarene, where his proprietorship was unquestioned. Schweitzer earnestly sought to live his philosophy, which for him was a creedal guide to action. To a marked degree, Schweitzer was an eclectic. He insisted on seeing personally that the youngster got a prompt and touching reply from his own pen before work was permitted to resume. [59] In 1917, exhausted by over four years' work and by tropical anaemia, they were taken to Bordeaux and interned first in Garaison and then from March 1918 in Saint-Rmy-de-Provence. During that year, his father, a Lutheran pastor, moved his wife and eldest son to Fugue in A minor (Peters, Vol 2, 8); Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (Great) (Vol 2, 4); Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major (Vol 3, 8). Additional medical staff, nurse (Miss) Kottmann and Dr. Victor Nessmann,[60] joined him in 1924, and Dr. Mark Lauterberg in 1925; the growing hospital was manned by native orderlies. about the religion of love, but only as an actual putting it into practice.". Albert Schweitzer studied the music of Johann Bach who was a German Composer. it.". Albert Schweitzer (1966). "The Teaching of Reverence for Life". His 1931 autobiography, Out of My Life and Thought, describing much of his work in Africa, was an international best-selling book. the end came; at first Jesus believed that his Messianic reign would begin before his disciples returned from the teaching mission commanded of them in the Gospel according to St. Matthew. In 1955, he was made an honorary member of the Order of Merit (OM) by Queen Elizabeth II. On his trip to Europe, Schweitzer invariably made his headquarters at his home in Gunsbach, which was expanded until it was also a leave and rest center for the hospital staff. During his return visits to his home village of Gunsbach, Schweitzer continued to make use of the family house, which after his death became an archive and museum to his life and work. He apparently did so in the company of his two cats, "Sizi" and . At the same time he gave organ concerts, delivered lectures and wrote books about theology. " Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. [76][77] Translating several couplets from the work, he remarked that the Kural insists on the idea that "good must be done for its own sake" and said, "There hardly exists in the literature of the world a collection of maxims in which we find so much lofty wisdom. A famous charitable institution in Africa, the Albert Schweitzer hospital in Gabon, is nearing its hundredth birthday. You see, the Good Lord has protected the trees. Schweitzer cross-referenced the many New Testament verses declaring imminent fulfilment of the promise of the World's ending within the lifetime of Jesus's original followers. barred him from preaching at the station, but agreed to accept his medical skills. [41], On the other hand, a more developed form of mysticism can be found in the Greek mystery-cults that were popular in first-century A.D. society. A developed form of mysticism is attained when the "conception of the universal is reached and a man reflects upon his relation to the totality of being and to Being in itself". Albert Schweitzer. Attending the University of Strasbourg, he served as curate at St. Nicholas, gave He was elected to the French Academy in 1951. Paul's imminent eschatology (from his background in Jewish eschatology) causes him to believe that the kingdom of God has not yet come and that Christians are now living in the time of Christ. In line with the 20th century he sought to put religion on a rational footing and to accept the advances of science; "[66] Schweitzer believed dignity and respect must be extended to blacks, while also sometimes characterizing them as children. He became a welcome guest at the Wagners' home, Wahnfried. award rationale. Schweitzer came to French Equatorial Africa as a tall, handsome, broadly powerful young man with a shock of rich, black hair, an enormous mustache and a look of piercing determination in his bold eyes. He fell ill from exhaustion on Aug. 28 and his condition worsened steadily. Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images. Prelude in C major (Vol 4, 1); Prelude in D major (Vol 4, 3); Canzona in D minor (Vol 4, 10) (with Mendelssohn, Sonata in D minor op 65.6). Lambarene, on the Ogooue River a few miles from the Equator, is in the steaming jungle. There he also received instruction in piano and counterpoint from professor Gustav Jacobsthal, and associated closely with Ernest Munch, the brother of his former teacher, organist of St William church, who was also a passionate admirer of J. S. Bach's music. The "realistic" partaking in the mystery of Jesus is only possible within the solidarity of the Christian community.[44]. [91], The prize was first awarded on 29 May 2011 to Eugen Drewermann and the physician couple Rolf and Raphaela Maibach in Knigsfeld im Schwarzwald, where Schweitzer's former residence now houses the Albert Schweitzer Museum. Indeed, building was often Additionally, Schweitzer explains how the experience of "being-in-Christ" is not a "static partaking in the spiritual being of Christ, but as the real co-experiencing of His dying and rising again". I belong to you until my dying breath," he told co-workers at the sprawling hospital on his 90th birthday Jan. 14. Much of the building work was carried out with the help of local people and patients. yet he was a foe to materialism and to the century's criteria for personal success. Birthplace: Kaysersberg, Germany Location of death: Lambarn, Gabon Cause of death: Natural Causes Remains: Buried, Albert. He responded with remarkable courtesy for about 20 minutes until one questioner prodded him Her father, Charles Schweitzer, was the older brother of Albert Schweitzer's father, Louis Thophile. Bach, he said, was chiefly a church composer. Hundreds flocked to hear him and to importune him. the right choices. Schweitzer and his wife did the best they could. The technique has since been used to record many modern instruments. Albert Schweitzer was born in a small town in France in 1875 and he passed away in Gabon, Africa in 1965 after a rich and illustrious career. Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace. Albert Schweitzer 30. In those years he completed his doctoral thesis in philosophy, a study of Imanuel Kant's views on religion; studied the organ, again with Widor in Paris; won his doctorate in theology; was ordained a curate; taught theology and became principal of Today ASF helps large numbers of young Americans in health-related professional fields find or create "their own Lambarn" in the US or internationally. Housed originally in the grounds of a mission, he chose to leave this comparative sanctuary for the unknown and forbidding regions of the jungle nearby. 1 in E major; no. Albert Schweitzer. The main hospital room and the Schweitzer's accomplishments are recognized even by his most caustic critics. No greater tribute to his abilities as a conqueror of jungle need own, is understandable when one considers the enormous achievement he has attained in his own lifetime. Now, without context, it seems that Albert Schweitzer rejects the whole project of historical Jesus research. Hospital workers, lepers, cripples and other patients gathered in the jungle heat as the body of the noted physician, scholar, philosopher and musician was lowered into the ground. He was also appointed organist for the Bach Concerts of the Orfo Catal at Barcelona, Spain, and often travelled there for that purpose. world's end did not occur, according to Schweitzer's view, Jesus decided that He must undergo an atoning sacrifice, and that the great transformation would take place on the cross. Schweitzer wrote, "True philosophy must start from the most immediate and comprehensive fact of consciousness, and this may be formulated as follows: 'I am life which wills to live, and I exist in the midst of life which wills to live. He and his wife (they were German citizens) were interned as prisoners of war for four months, then released to continue the work of the hospital. The Schweitzers had their own bungalow and employed as their assistant Joseph, a French-speaking Galoa[clarification needed] (Mpongwe), who first came to Lambarn as a patient.[57][58]. Schweitzer considered his ethic of Reverence for Life, not his hospital, his most important legacy, saying that his Lambarn Hospital was just "my own improvisation on the theme of Reverence for Life. His medical dissertation was titled, The Psychiatric Study of Jesus.. Two 1992 episodes of the television series. With theological insight, he interpreted the use of pictorial and symbolical representation in J. S. Bach's religious music. These included the cults of Attis, Osiris, and Mithras. Widor had not grown up with knowledge of the old Lutheran hymns. Thank you. The hospital suffered from squalor and was without modern amenities, and Schweitzer had little contact with the local people. brought to a halt lest nests of ants be killed or disturbed. Respect for life, overcoming coarser impulses and hollow doctrines, leads the individual to live in the service of other people and of every living creature. Schweitzer claims that this form of mysticism is more intellectual and can be found "among the Brahmans and in the Buddha, in Platonism, in Stoicism, in Spinoza, Schopenhauer, and Hegel".[42]. who founded the kingdom of Heaven upon earth, and died to give his work the final consecration, never had any existence," Schweitzer wrote. By mid-century it had become the commonest cause. By the 1950s, 3 unpaid physicians, 7 nurses and 13 volunteer aides staffed the Schweitzer Hospital. Late in the third day of his journey he was on deck thinking and writing. His philosophy has made a difference and has led to the passage of laws and helping the cause of animal rights in the latter half of the twentieth century. Edgar Berman quotes Schweitzer as having said in 1960, "No society can go from the primeval directly to an industrial state without losing the leavening that time and an agricultural period allow.