05/01/2024
Albert Schweitzer the patron of our University :
Albert Schweitzer (born January 14, 1875 in Kaysersberg, Upper Alsace, Germany. [died September 4, 1965 in Lambaréné, Gabon) was an Alsatian-German theologian, philosopher, organist and mission doctor in Equatorial Africa who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his efforts on behalf of the "Brotherhood of Nations".
The eldest son of a Lutheran pastor, Schweitzer studied philosophy and theology at the University of Strasbourg, where he obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1899. At the same time, he was a philosophy teacher and preacher at St. Nicholas Church and, the following year, he received a doctorate in theology. His book "Von Reimarus zu Wrede" (1906; The Search for the Historical Jesus) made him a world figure in theological studies. In this and other works, he emphasized the eschatological vision (concerned with the consummation of history) of Jesus and St. Paul, stating that their attitudes were formed by the expectation of the imminent end of the world.
During these years, Schweitzer also became a successful musician, starting his career as an organist in Strasbourg in 1893. Charles-Marie Widor, his organ teacher in Paris, recognized Schweitzer as a uniquely perceptive interpreter of Bach and asked him to write a study on the composer's life and art. The result was J.S. Bach: le musicien-poète (1905). In this work, Schweitzer considered Bach to be a religious mystic and compared his music to the impersonal and cosmic forces of the natural world.
In 1905, Schweitzer announced his intention to become a mission doctor in order to devote himself to philanthropic work, and in 1913 he became a doctor of medicine. With his wife, Hélène Bresslau, who had trained as a nurse to help him, he left for Lambaréné, in the province of Gabon, in French Equatorial Africa. There, on the banks of the river Ogooué (Ogowe), Schweitzer, with the help of the locals, built his hospital, which he equipped and maintained with his own income, later supplemented by donations from private individuals and foundations from many countries. Interned for a short time as an enemy alien (German) and later in France as a prisoner of war during the First World War, he increasingly turned his attention to world problems and was led to write his Kulturphilosophie (1923; "Philosophy of Civilization"), in which he set out his personal philosophy of "reverence for life", an ethical principle that involves all living beings and which he considered essential for the survival of civilization.
Schweitzer returned to Africa in 1924 to rebuild the abandoned hospital, which he moved about three kilometers up the Ogooué River. Later, a l***r colony was added. In 1963, there were 350 patients with their families in the hospital and 150 patients in the l***r colony, all served by around 36 white doctors and nurses and a variable number of native workers.
Schweitzer never entirely abandoned his musical or scholarly interests. He published Die Mystik des Apostels Paulus (1930; The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle), gave lectures and organ recitals throughout Europe, made recordings, and resumed his editing of Bach’s works, begun with Widor in 1911 (Bachs Orgelwerke, 1912–14). His address upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Das Problem des Friedens in der heutigen Welt (1954; The Problem of Peace in the World of Today), had a worldwide circulation.
Despite the occasional criticisms of Schweitzer’s medical practice as being autocratic and primitive, and despite the opposition sometimes raised against his theological works, his influence continues to have a strong moral appeal, frequently serving as a source of encouragement for other medical missionaries.
In this way, we highlight our Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) program at Albert Schweitzer University as another simple way of paying homage to our patron Albert Schweitzer, training doctors with extreme dedication and humanization in serving others and saving lives for the good of American society (USA) and the world.
