it.". "The awareness that we are all human beings together has become lost in war and through . Birthplace: Kaysersberg, Germany Location of death: Lambarn, Gabon Cause of death: Natural Causes Remains: Buried, Albert. Its climate is among the world's worst, with fiercely hot days, clammy nights and seasonal torrents of rain. ". The moment of awakening came as he was reading Matthew x and xi True to his pledge, Schweitzer turned from music and theology to service to others. [30] According to a visitor, Dr. Gaine Cannon, of Balsam Grove, N.C., the old, dilapidated piano-organ was still being played by Dr. Schweitzer in 1962, and stories told that "his fingers were still lively" on the old instrument at 88 years of age. He was known especially for founding the Schweitzer Hospital, which provided unprecedented medical care for the natives of Lambarn in Gabon. its creature comforts yet rejecting its complacent attitudes toward progress. [83] He was also a chevalier of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. . The technique has since been used to record many modern instruments. of thought that resulted in "The Quest for the Historical Jesus." 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. Further on ahimsa and the reverence for life in the same book, he elaborates on the ancient Indian didactic work of the Tirukkural, which he observed that, like the Buddha and the Bhagavad Gita, "stands for the commandment not to kill and not to damage". He returned to Lambarene in 1929 and remained for two years, establishing a pattern of work in Africa and sojourns in Europe during which he lectured, wrote and concertized to raise funds for his hospital. Director of the Lambarene hospital has been handed over to Schweitzer's assistant, Dr. Walter Munz. designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism and clothed by modern theology in an historical garb.". As a person, Schweitzer was a curious mixture. Albert was born in 1875 in Kaysersberg (Alsace-Lorraine), Germany, (now Haut-Rhin, France), only two months after Germany annexed that province from France, as a result of winning the Franco-Prussian war. disease (leprosy), dysentery, elephantiasis, sleeping sickness, malaria, yellow fever and animal wounds. for his ethical creed was as firm at 90 as it was on his 30th birthday, the day he decided to devote the rest of his life to the natives of Africa as a physician. [26] This provided the basis for the International Regulations for Organ Building. He was however also a theologian, organist, philosopher, and physician. He was made an honorary member of the British Order of Merit in 1955. Bach, he said, was chiefly a church composer. These synthetic vaccines in themselves cause cancers as other pharmaceutical products based on the chemical nature of the medicine which largely acts as a suppressor of symptoms masquerading as a cure. '"[72] In nature one form of life must always prey upon another. [80] With the $33,000 prize money, he started the leprosarium at Lambarn. He took the search for the good life seriously. He had originally conducted trials for recordings for HMV on the organ of the old Queen's Hall in London. ASF selects and supports nearly 250 new US and Africa Schweitzer Fellows each year from over 100 of the leading US schools of medicine, nursing, public health, and every other field with some relation to health (including music, law, and divinity). . From 1952 until his death Schweitzer worked against nuclear weapons together with Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell. Albert Schweitzer. He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of "Reverence for Life", which states that the only thing we are really sure of is that we live and want to go on living. Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 - May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. 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]. The laying down of the commandment to not kill and to not damage is one of the greatest events in the spiritual history of mankind. Franco-German yet cosmopolitan in culture, he drew deeply from the music and philosophy of the 18th century, especially Bach, Goethe and Kant. The compound was staffed by 3 unpaid physicians, 7 nurses and 13 volunteer helpers. At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Eddie Albert was showered with all the love and care anyone could hope for during his last days. Everyone can have their own Lambarn". 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.". In 1955, he was made an honorary member of the Order of Merit (OM) by Queen Elizabeth II. Advertisement. | Sdkurier Online", "Harrison & Harrison organ catalogue by name London", Dr. Albert Schweitzer: "My Address to the People" Commitment against Nuclear War, John D. Regester Collection on Albert Schweitzer, Newspaper clippings about Albert Schweitzer, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albert_Schweitzer&oldid=1142059300. The Albert Schweitzer Institute conducts programs that link education, ethics and voluntarism for the sake of creating a more peaceful and sustainable world. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and the second in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid. "In your commitment to truth and service," the President cabled, "you have touched and deepened the live of millions you have never met. Albert Schweitzer is best known as a great humanitarian because of the fact that he spent his life from age 40 until his death in Africa as a medical doctor at Lambgarence. [18] He and Widor collaborated on a new edition of Bach's organ works, with detailed analysis of each work in three languages (English, French, German). His medical dissertation was titled, The Psychiatric Study of Jesus.. Albert Schweitzer was born at Kaystersberg, Haute Alsace (now Haut-Rhin), Jan. 14, 1875, just two months after Germany had annexed the province from war-prostrate France. In the Schweitzer method, the figure-8 is replaced by two small diaphragm condenser microphones pointed directly away from each other. Schweitzer and his wife did the best they could. October 27, 2021 Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer known as 'Alsatian polymath', was a theologian, humanitarian philosopher, and physician. Albert Schweitzer, OM (14 January 1875 - 4 September 1965) was a French-German theologian, organist, philosopher, and physician.He was born in the German province of Alsace-Lorraine and although that region had been reintegrated into the German Empire four years earlier, and remained a German province until 1918, he considered himself French and wrote mostly in French. It speaks so piously of human dignity and human rights and then disregards this dignity and these rights of countless millions and treads them underfoot, only because they live overseas or because their skins are of different colour or because they cannot help themselves. [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. Philosopher and musician Dr. Albert Schweitzer, sitting at his desk in a London restaurant, around 1955. From 1939 to 1948, he stayed in Lambarn, unable to go back to Europe because of the war. LAMBARENE, GABON, Sept. 5--Albert Schweitzer died last night in his jungle hospital here. Quotes about Schweitzer [] He simply acted out of inner necessity. He sought to exemplify the idea that man, through good works, can be in the world and in God at one and the same time. to the church to play Bach. . It was about 200 miles away from the mouth of the Ogoou River at Port Gentil (now Cape Lopez). The information that each capsule collects is unique, unlike the identical out-of-polarity information generated from the figure-8 in a regular mid-side. All Rights Reserved. Later Dr. Trensz replaced Nessmann, and Martha Lauterberg and Hans Muggenstorm joined them. for Life. Schweitzer also wrote the book, The Animal World of Albert Schweitzer, a collection of Schweitzer's writings about the application of ethics to the animal kingdom. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Preface: Albert Schweitzer, a European scholar and musician, dedicated fifty years of his life to the hospital he had built to ease the suffering of an, at that time, primitive African people. [1] Albert Schweitzer. But how are we of the post-colonial age to understand a man who was born in 1875 and saw the world very differently from the way we do? Albert Schweitzer The Nobel Peace Prize 1952 Born: 14 January 1875, Kaysersberg, Germany (now France) Died: 4 September 1965, Lambarn, Gabon Residence at the time of the award: France Role: Missionary surgeon, Founder of Lambarn (Rpublique de Gabon) In the first nine months, he and his wife had about 2,000 patients to examine, some travelling many days and hundreds of kilometres to reach him. Albert founded Albert Schweitzer Hospital located in Gabon. He is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine and the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and the author ofThe Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick and the Discovery of DNAs Double Helix (W.W. Norton, September 21). He now had salvarsan for treating syphilitic ulcers and framboesia. In 1900, with the completion of his licentiate in theology, he was ordained as curate, and that year he witnessed the Oberammergau Passion Play. He was extremely intelligent and excelled in many fields (music, theology, philosophy and medicine), which means he could have easily led a very comfortable life anywhere in Europe . The answer came in a flash of mystic illumination in September, 1915, as he was steaming up the Ogooue River in Africa. about the religion of love, but only as an actual putting it into practice.". With theological insight, he interpreted the use of pictorial and symbolical representation in J. S. Bach's religious music. the right choices. he had worked as an artisan in constructing many of its buildings; and, although the station was many times beset by adversities that would have discouraged a less dedicated man, it had grown at [9] In 1893, he played for the French organist Charles-Marie Widor (at Saint-Sulpice, Paris), for whom Johann Sebastian Bach's organ music contained a mystic sense of the eternal. These chapters started a chain Rhena Schweitzer Miller, the only child of Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who carried on his medical missionary work in Africa after his death in 1965, died Sunday. He began to play the church organ at 8, when his feet barely reached the pedals. The hospital suffered from squalor and was without modern amenities, and Schweitzer had little contact with the local people. Not only did he design the station, but he also helped build it with his own hands. While he was on his sickbed, his terminally ill son cared for him despite battling a diagnosis that claimed his life a year later. Attending the University of Strasbourg, he served as curate at St. Nicholas, gave He came to the Ogooue in 1913 when horses drew the buses of London and leprosy was considered [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. Muntz and Friedman, both Holocaust survivors, to record his work and daily life at the hospital. A Lutheran minister, Schweitzer challenged both the secular view of Jesus as depicted by the historical-critical method current at this time, as well as the traditional Christian view. [73], Such was the theory which Schweitzer sought to put into practice in his own life. The mid-side sees a figure-8 microphone pointed off-axis, perpendicular to the sound source. Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace. Schweitzer's probing conception of Bach created a sensation in its time, and it still remains a classic study, not only for the detailed instructions it provides for the playing of Bach but also for its challenging esthetic. After briefly occupying a shed formerly used as a chicken hut, in late 1913 they built their first hospital of corrugated iron, with a consulting room and operating theatre and with a dispensary and sterilising room. It was to this picture-book Franco-German village and its vineyards that Schweitzer was invariably to return between periods Life, Grief, Bad Ass. Gerson died in 1959, eulogized by long-time friend, Albert Schweitzer M.D. He responded with remarkable courtesy for about 20 minutes until one questioner prodded him 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). His father, a Lutheran pastor, moved the family to a nearby town, Gunsbach, which was situated in the foothills the Vosges mountain range. "From whatever direction he is considered, Bach is, then, the last word in an artistic evolution which was prepared in the Middle Ages, freed and activated by the Reformation and arrives at its The "realistic" partaking in the mystery of Jesus is only possible within the solidarity of the Christian community.[44]. for him in the ditches beside the wards. He had scratched it out from the jungle beginning in 1913; he had designed it; Ethics themselves proceed from the need to respect the wish of other beings to exist as one does towards oneself. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. an incurable scourge. A rift opened between this world-view, as material knowledge, and the life-view, understood as Will, expressed in the pessimist philosophies from Schopenhauer onward. Albert Schweitzer, the son of an Evangelical Lutheran minister, was born on . Kaysersberg ( Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire) Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer. In 1957, Schweitzer was one of the founders of The Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. He defended Jesus' mental health in it. [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". [17], In 1905, Schweitzer began his study of medicine at the University of Strasbourg, culminating in the degree of M.D. Schweitzer's accomplishments are recognized even by his most caustic critics. He speaks to us the same word: 'Follow thou me' and sets us to the task which He has to fulfill for our time. Bartolf, Christian; Gericke, Marion; Miething, Dominique (2020): This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 08:10. Dr. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting the anniversary of a momentous event that continues to shape modern medicine. Many of his basic ideas have been adopted without having his name connected with them. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was a brilliant philosopher, physician, musician, clergyman and theological scholar. Deaths were concentrated during the first few months of life, with 35% occurring during the first month. On Good Friday, 1913, the couple set sail from Bordeaux for Africa, where Schweitzer established a hospital on the grounds of the Lambarene station of the Paris Missionary Society. I can do no other than to have compassion for all that is called life. for the good of fellow men who need the help of a fellow man." [4][5] He spent his childhood in Gunsbach, also in Alsace, where his father, the local Lutheran-Evangelical pastor of the EPCAAL, taught him how to play music. "[81], Weeks prior to his death, an American film crew was allowed to visit Schweitzer and Drs. Now I had my way to the idea in which world [affirmation] and life-affirmation and ethics are contained Another major difference between Paul's "realism" and Hellenistic "symbolism" is the exclusive nature of the former and the inclusive nature of the latter. 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. These included the cults of Attis, Osiris, and Mithras. He was buried at his hospital, later named Albert Schweitzer Hospital. People robbed native inhabitants of their land, made slaves of them, let loose the scum of mankind upon them. In recent years, many have taken him to task for decidedly paternalistic and racist descriptions of his African patients that would offend many a 21st century observer. Jesus, Schweitzer contended, believed himself the Messiah who would rule in a new kingdom of God when Trensz conducted experiments showing that the non-amoebic strain of dysentery was caused by a paracholera vibrion (facultative anaerobic bacteria). Schweitzer was one of colonialism's harshest critics. To me, Dr. Schweitzer is the one truly great individuals our modern times have produced. Until his death in 1965, Schweitzer continued to publish, lecture, perform and care for the sick. After his wife died in 1957, Schweitzer was almost continuously in Lambarene. The following year, 1906, (and despite pleas from his family to pursue his religious studies) a 31-year-old Albert began medical school. She music. Albert Schweitzer. degree in February, 1913, Schweitzer studied medicine, but he did not entirely cut himself off from his other worlds. The Deed is everything, the Glory naught. Yet, he has achieved more than seemed possible under adverse conditions. According to some authors, Schweitzer's thought, and specifically his development of reverence for life, was influenced by Indian religious thought and in particular the Jain principle of ahimsa, or non-violence. His medical degree dissertation was another work on the historical Jesus, Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu. Schweitzer, the pastor's son, grew up in this exceptional environment of religious tolerance, and developed the belief that true Christianity should always work towards a unity of faith and purpose. In Reverence for Life, he concluded, "knowledge passes Nobel Peace Prize. In this respect, he was undoubtedly made more of by cultists than he was willing to make of himself, although he was by no means a man with a weak ego. Paul stands high above primitive mysticism, due to his intellectual writings, but never speaks of being one with God or being in God. Schweitzer's book (and other writings as well) disputed the theory that human progress toward civilization was inevitable. These records did not satisfy him, the instrument being too harsh. There was a further period of work in 1935. Much of the building work was carried out with the help of local people and patients. Hupp, upp. It seems that the number of deaths due to medical negligence is increasing every year. Csar Franck: Organ Chorales, no. You Love Will Happiness. " One person can and does make a difference. 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]. Albert "Ian" Schweitzer, Hawaii man imprisoned for Dana Ireland's 1991 murder and rape, released after lawyer presents new evidence - CBS News Watch CBS News Crime Hawaii man in prison for. He insisted on seeing personally that the youngster got a prompt and touching reply from his own pen before work was permitted to resume. Two 1992 episodes of the television series. O'Brian returned to the United States and founded the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation (HOBY). Albert Schweitzer. The maladies the Schweitzers treated were both horrific and deadly. Schweitzer, who insisted that the score should show Bach's notation with no additional markings, wrote the commentaries for the Preludes and Fugues, and Widor those for the Sonatas and Concertos: six volumes were published in 191214. Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself. [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. You must not expect anything from others. He locates Paul between the two extremes of primitive mysticism and developed mysticism. Schweitzer maintained, nonetheless, that Jesus' concepts were eternal. (Revelation 22:20). 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. [20] Ernst Cassirer, a contemporaneous German philosopher, called it "one of the best interpretations" of Bach. To a marked degree, Schweitzer was an eclectic. This, The film The Legacy of Albert Schweitzer, narrated by Henry Fonda, was produced by Warner Brothers and aired once. Schweitzer's talents that he taught him then and later without fee. He was elected to the French Academy in 1951. Schweitzer's pedal piano was still in use at Lambarn in 1946. [8], Schweitzer's first language was the Alsatian dialect of German. At the age of 30, in 1905, Schweitzer answered the call of The Society of the Evangelist Missions of Paris, which was looking for a physician. Oh, this 'noble' culture of ours! Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" also drew Schweitzer's warmest praise. The list, alas, goes on and his prejudices are difficult, if not impossible, to ignore. chief force of the famous hospital at Lambarene, in Gabon, the former French Equatorial Africa. As he said at age 40, he "was not going to speak or talk any longer." Among the messages he received was one from President Johnson. He returned to Africa alone in 1925, his wife and daughter, Rhena, who was born in 1919, remaining in Europe. He will end by destroying the earth. Schweitzer's only daughter, Mrs. Rhena Eckert, will be its administrator. Schweitzer earnestly sought to live his philosophy, which for him was a creedal guide to action. Dives represented opulent Europe, and Lazarus, with his open sores, the sick and helpless of Africa. 8 Department of Cardiology II -Electrophysiology; University of Mnster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Gebude A1, D-48149 Mnster, Germany. His father and both grandfathers were pastors and organists. [84][bettersourceneeded], Schweitzer is often cited in vegetarian literature as being an advocate of vegetarianism in his later years. 4 September 1965. Though we cannot perfect the endeavour we should strive for it: the will-to-live constantly renews itself, for it is both an evolutionary necessity and a spiritual phenomenon. He had little but contempt for the nationalist movement, for his attitudes were firmly grounded in Schweitzer developed a technique for recording the performances of Bach's music. Albert Schweitzer (1966). " Albert Schweitzer Dr. Albert Schweitzer who renounced fame and fortune as a musician 43 years ago - and who is on a visit to London - went to the Royal festival Hall yesterday - where he tried out the festival organ which he said ''She is magnificent - she is beautiful''. The years thinned and grayed his hair (without making [12] In 1899, Schweitzer spent the summer semester at the University of Berlin and eventually obtained his theology degree at the University of Strasbourg. Thank you. He did not preen himself, nor did he utter cosmic statements His philosophy was expressed in many ways, but most famously in founding and sustaining the Hpital Albert Schweitzer in Lambarn, French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon). to school for a few hours every day and then going back to the fields. 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? Astounding plans e'en now are brewing: [13][16], Schweitzer rapidly gained prominence as a musical scholar and organist, dedicated also to the rescue, restoration and study of historic pipe organs. He had pondered the meaning of the parable of Dives and Lazarus and its application to his times, and he had concluded that 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).. . Schweitzer's wife, Helene Schweitzer, served as an anaesthetist for surgical operations. In the years that followed, the hospital grew by leaps and bounds, not only in terms of bricks and mortar but also in its delivery of comprehensive and modern health care. Albert Schweitzer - At times our own light goes out and is. Ara Paul Barsam (2002) "Albert Schweitzer, jainism and reverence for life" in: Albert Schweitzer and Charles Rhind Joy (1947). Thousands flocked there, and thousands responded to Schweitzer's Today marks the 141st birthday of Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965). As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." ~ Albert Schweitzer.