Albert Camus

Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a French author and philosopher and one of the principal luminaries (with Jean-Paul Sartre) of existentialism. Camus was the second youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature (after Rudyard Kipling) when he received the award in 1957. He is also the shortest-lived of any literature laureate to date.

Early years

Albert Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria to a French Algerian (pied noir) settler family. His mother was of Spanish extraction. His father, Lucien, died in the Battle of the Marne in 1914 during the First World War. Camus lived in poor conditions during his childhood in the Belcourt section of Algiers.

Related Topics:
Mondovi, Algeria - Pied noir - Battle of the Marne - 1914 - First World War - Belcourt - Algiers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1923, Camus was accepted into the lycée and eventually to the University of Algiers. However, he contracted tuberculosis in 1930, which put an end to his football activities (he had been a goalkeeper for the university team) and forced him to make his studies a part-time pursuit. He took odd jobs including private tutor, car parts clerk, and work for the Meteorological Institute. He completed his licence de philosophie (BA) in 1935; in May of 1936, he successfully presented his thesis on Plotinus, Néo-Platonisme et Pensée Chrétienne for his diplôme d'études supérieures (roughly equivalent to an M.A. by thesis).

Related Topics:
1923 - Lycée - University of Algiers - Tuberculosis - 1930 - Football - Goalkeeper - Tutor - BA - 1935 - 1936 - Plotinus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Camus joined the French Communist Party in 1934, apparently for concern over the political situation in Spain (which eventually resulted in the Spanish Civil War) rather than support for Marxist-Leninist doctrine. In 1936, the independence-minded Algerian Communist Party (PCA) was founded. Camus joined the activities of Le Parti du Peuple Algérien, which got him into trouble with his communist party comrades. As a result, he was denounced as "Trotskyite", which did not endear him to Stalinist communism.

Related Topics:
French Communist Party - Spain - Spanish Civil War - Marxist-Leninist - Le Parti du Peuple Algérien - Trotskyite

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1934, he married Simone Hie, but the marriage ended due to Simone's morphine addiction. In 1935, he founded Théâtre du Travail — "Worker's Theatre" — (renamed Théâtre de l'Equipe in 1937), which survived until 1939. From 1937 to 1939, he wrote for a socialist paper, Alger-Republicain, and his work included an account of the Arabs who lived in Kabyles in poor conditions, which apparently cost him his job. From 1939 to 1940, he briefly wrote for a similar paper, Soir-Republicain. He was rejected from the French army because of his tuberculosis.

Related Topics:
Married - Morphine - 1937 - Kabyles

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1940, Camus married Francine Faure and he began to work for Paris-Soir magazine. In the first stage of World War II, the so-called Phony War stage, Camus was a pacifist. However, he was in Paris to witness how the Wehrmacht took over. On December 19, 1941, Camus witnessed the execution of Gabriel Peri, an event which Camus later said crystallized his revolt against the Germans. Afterwards he moved to Bordeaux alongside the rest of the staff of Paris-Soir. In this year he finished his first books, The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus. He returned briefly to Oran, Algeria in 1942.

Related Topics:
Paris-Soir - World War II - Phony War - Pacifist - Paris - Wehrmacht - December 19 - 1941 - Gabriel Peri - Bordeaux - The Stranger - The Myth of Sisyphus - Oran

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~