Albert Schweitzer

Doctor, theologian, philosopher, and musician: there are many qualifiers that define Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), an Alsatian nurtured by German and French cultures. His Protestant faith and humanist ideals were embodied in many ways: a prolific writer, he was also a man of action, an opponent of nationalism and then nuclear weapons, and a pioneer in humanitarian aid. Even before his Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, he became famous for the hospital he founded in Lambarene, in the middle of the equatorial forest, as well as for his ethic of respect for life. From Kaysersberg and Gunsbach to Gabon, via Strasbourg, Paris, and Berlin, Matthieu Arnold draws on numerous unpublished sources, little or never explored, to guide us in the footsteps of a multifaceted Albert Schweitzer.

• By (author) Matthieu Arnold