Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer (14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German-French theologian, concert organist, philosopher, music scholar, physician, and medical missionary who combined outstanding scholarly and artistic achievement in Europe with nearly five decades of medical work at a hospital he founded in Lambaréné, Gabon. He is best known for formulating the ethical principle of "reverence for life" (Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben), a universal ethic encompassing all living beings, which he applied to questions of peace, animal welfare, and human solidarity. In 1952 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (presented in 1953), and he remains one of the most widely discussed figures of twentieth-century humanitarianism.

Early Life and Education