Jan. 14, 1875 - Sep. 4, 1965
Overview:
A hero is a person in society who sees something wrong or broken and tries to fix the problem. A prime example of this is Albert Schweitzer, who brought much needed medical aid to African regions.
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Albert Schweitzer
His dream was to work in Africa and help the underprivledged. He brought them much needed health care.
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Country:
France
Type
of hero: Economic and Social Rights
Attributes:
Environmentalist, Scholar, Musician, Activist, Altruistic
Biography:
Schweitzer was born near Strasbourg in Alsace, which is now France, though when he was born, it was part of Germany. He was the son of a Lutheran minister and he studied philosophy and theology at Strasbourg University.
As well as his talents in the fields of philosophy and theology, he was a talented organ player and later went on to become the one of the world’s leading experts in organ building. He was a great writer and produced a number of books on philosophy as well as on music.
In 1904, he read an article in the Paris Missionary Society's publication about the need for medical doctors in the French colony of Gabon, Africa. While he seemed to have a glittering future ahead of him in Europe, he gave it all up to train in medicine and surgery. At the same time, his wife began studies in nursing.
His motivation was underpinned by recognition of the inhumane treatment that had been dished out to his fellow humans over the years, especially in the colonies that had made many European countries so wealthy. He saw that until now, he had helped humanity through his use of words and preaching, but now he wanted to do something practical. He received his degree with a specialization in tropical medicine and surgery at the age of 38.
What makes Schweitzer’s journey to Africa even more remarkable was that despite his years of training to fill a position for which there was such obvious need, they turned him down. There was a perception that as an intellectual and a free thinker, he could add to the disruption of the local people. Not to be deterred, he set out to raise funds with the help of family and friends and reapplied for the position, telling those in authority that he would pay his own way.
Finally in 1913, he headed off to Lambarene, which is now part of Gabon. With the assistance of local African workers, he set up his first consulting rooms in what was effectively a chicken coop. They soon had a hospital and medical centre funded by Schweitzer’s income as well as donations from family, friends and others around the globe.
During World War 1, as a citizen of Germany, he was held as a prisoner of war in France. There, he continued to write and espouse his philosophy of a reverence for life that should be extended to all living things.
He returned to Gabon in 1924, though his wife at that stage was too ill to return with him and she stayed in France with their daughter. While Rhena, his daughter saw little of him during her childhood, she later trained as a laboratory technician and worked with her father in Africa.
Like other heroes in our files, Schweitzer had his good and bad features. To some, he was bad tempered and he ran his medical practice in an autocratic and primitive way. No one can dispute though, that he has raised the consciousness that we all have about the notion of “humanity”. His book, Peace or Atomic War? urges us to examine the problems of the use of nuclear technology. To make a difference, you do not need to be a saint. – Or should we say that saints aren’t without their faults either.
Citations
& References:
Links:
http://www.schweitzer.org/
http://www.schweitzer.org/
http://www.britannica.com/
http://www.schweitzerinstitute.org/asi/Mindex.htm
References
Great Lives f the 20th Century – P. 147
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