Albert Schweitzer - Hero in History

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), as a man of religion, could have spent his life writing books about God. His father and grandfather were ministers; both of his grandfathers were talented organists; many of his relatives were highly educated. He obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1899.  he served in various high ranking posts from 1901 to 1912 in the Theological College of St.Thomas, the college he had attended at the University of Strasbourg. although highly educated and talented in music he decided to help sick people in Africa rather than pursuing his own glory. 

Meanwhile he was very gifted musically and had piano and organ lessons at an early age. He was only nine when he first performed in his father's church, he was, from his young manhood to his middle eighties, recognized as a concert organist, internationally known. From his professional engagements he earned funds for his education, particularly his later medical schooling, and for his African hospital. Musicologist as well as performer, Schweitzer wrote a biography of Bach in 1905 in French, published a book on organ building and playing in 1906, and rewrote the Bach book in German in 1908. In 1906 he published The Quest of the Historical Jesus, a book on which much of his fame as a theological scholar rests. In 1905 he began to study to be a doctor and by 1913 he had set up a hospital in Gabon in French Equatorial Africa. 

He decided to go to Africa as a medical missionary rather than as a pastor, and in 1905 he began the study of medicine at the University of Strasbourg. In 1913, after obtaining his M.D. degree, he founded his hospital at Lambaréné in French Equatorial Africa, but in 1917 he and his wife were sent to a French internment camp as prisoners of war. Released in 1918, Schweitzer spent the next six years in Europe, preaching in his old church, giving lectures and concerts, taking medical courses, and writing books - On the Edge of the Primeval Forest, The Decay and Restoration of Civilization, Civilization and Ethics, and Christianity and the Religions of the World.

Schweitzer returned to Lambaréné in 1924 and spent the rest of his life there. He used his own money earned from royalties and personal appearance and donations from all parts of the world to expand the hospital which by the early 1960's could take over 500 patients at any one time. He received many honors, including the Goethe Prize of Frankfurt and honorary doctorates from many universities for one or another of his achievements. The Nobel Peace Prize for 1952, having been withheld in that year, was given to him on December 10, 1953. With $33,000 prize money, he started the leprosarium at Lambaréné.

At Lambaréné, Schweitzer was accomplished in many things - a doctor and surgeon in the hospital, a pastor, an administrator of a village,a  superintendent of buildings and grounds, a writer of scholarly books, a commentator on contemporary history, a musician, and a gracious host to many visitors.  Sometimes, as a doctor, he was criticized for being old fashioned and bossy, but, thousands of Africans were helped by his hospital. Albert Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965, and was buried at Lambaréné.

You can get the dramatized story of his life here.

 $5.00 You Story Hour dramatized audio life story of Albert Schweitzer in two parts, his early life and his later life as an mp3. There are two filesin this zip