Albert Schweitzer was a man of many talents. From his achievements as an organist and composer to his work as a pastor, philosopher, and physician, he had a deep reverence for everyone he met. Reverence is defined as deep respect and admiration, and Albert Schweitzer took this meaning seriously. He believed that all people should be guided by a philosophy he called a "reverence for life." In his book The Philosophy of Civilization, Schweitzer wrote, "It is good to maintain and encourage life; it is bad to destroy life or obstruct it." This simple idea became the foundation of everything he accomplished.
Albert Schweitzer was born on January 14, 1875, in a country village in Alsace, then a part of Germany but now a part of France. His grandfather and great-grandfather had been schoolmasters and organists in the region, and his father was a Protestant pastor and teacher. When Schweitzer was six months old, his father became the pastor of a local church in Günsbach, France, and moved his family there. In Günsbach, the boy grew up happily with his three sisters and one brother, and from an early age, Schweitzer was interested in music. His father started teaching him piano when he was five years old. Later Schweitzer would write in his autobiography, Out of My Life and Thought, "At eight, when my legs were hardly long enough to reach the pedals, I began to play the organ."
In Günsbach, there was only one church, so both Catholics and Protestants had to share the building to worship. This closeness fostered a religious acceptance and tolerance of others in the town and nurtured a belief in human kindness and charity in young Albert. This influence, plus his father's religious teachings, would become a fundamental part of his character.
Although Schweitzer was an inquisitive boy, his academic performance was disappointing. "I did not cut a brilliant figure," admitted Schweitzer of his early school years. But being obviously talented in music and equally interested in religion, Schweitzer blossomed as he grew older and soon found himself struggling with a choice on which direction his life should take. Eventually he decided that the two interests were not mutually exclusive and he would pursue both.
While continuing to study music privately, Schweitzer enrolled at the University of Strasbourg in 1893 to pursue both theology and philosophy, eventually receiving a doctorate in both disciplines. By 1899, Schweitzer had become a pastor at Saint Nicholas Church in Strasbourg, but he continued to play music. He became well-known as an organist with a unique sense of interpreting the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, playing concerts across Europe. In 1905 Schweitzer wrote a biography of Bach, J.S. Bach: The Musician-Poet, which established Schweitzer as a music scholar as well as a philosopher. Just a year later, Schweitzer published his most important book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, which gained him much scholarly recognition for its historical presentation of the life of Jesus and influenced theological thought throughout the twentieth century.
Even though he had established himself as an author, a pastor, and a talented musician, Schweitzer was not satisfied. Inspired by a magazine article about the desperate need for doctors in the French colonies in Africa, Schweitzer decided to devote himself to helping the people there. So Albert Schweitzer enrolled in medical school and dedicated the next eight years to the study of medicine. In 1913 the 38-year-old Schweitzer, by then an expert in tropical medicine, was ready to travel to the French Congo (in an area that is now Gabon) to begin his mission. But one detail remained: Schweitzer had been assisted in his studies by a young nurse named Hélène Bresslau. They planned to operate the hospital in Africa together, but the couple felt it would not be proper for a woman to accompany a single man into the African jungle. So the pair married and left for Africa in March of 1913.
Upon their arrival in the Congo, the Schweitzers started their hospital in an old chicken coop. Later, they added a metal building with a palm-leaf roof, which became his operating room and office. Africans in this region did not have access to the latest medical treatment, and Schweitzer began caring for people with malaria, leprosy, and other ailments. He quickly noticed that many medical conditions easily treatable in a European hospital could be a death sentence for people in this remote region. Schweitzer's presence saved many lives. However, just as Schweitzer's hospital began to thrive, his work was interrupted by World War I. Schweitzer and his wife, both German citizens, were sent to a French prison camp until the end of the war in 1918. After being released, they returned to Alsace, and Schweitzer spent the next six years preaching, writing, giving lectures, performing, and expanding his knowledge of medicine.
In 1924 Schweitzer returned to the Congo, and except for short speaking tours, remained in Africa for the rest of his life. Schweitzer had finally been able to grasp the ethical concept he had been searching for since he was a young man, and he decided to write about it. In his autobiography, Schweitzer wrote how he was finally able to put a name to this concept when he was traveling up an African river by steamship to reach a sick missionary. The insight struck him as he sat on the deck, lost in thought. "We were making our way through a herd of hippopotamuses, [when it] flashed upon my mind, unforeseen and unsought, the phrase, 'Reverence for Life.'" This idea would become his motto to perfectly illustrate the way all people should respond to the world around them.
Schweitzer's "reverence for life" expressed the idea that humans were not created to control or subdue nature. Respect for life, in whatever form, should take priority over any human intentions. He believed everyone had an obligation to do as little harm as possible while providing aid to others whenever necessary. Schweitzer's views were in direct conflict with the colonial worldview of European nations of the time. Feeling superior to native populations, Europeans eagerly expanded their influence over non-European territories, but Schweitzer believed that they did not have the right to impose their will upon others.
Schweitzer's work and life was a model for many, and in 1952, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Africa. Albert Schweitzer spoke out for peace and against the horrors of nuclear weapons, delivering major speeches against weapons of mass destruction between 1957 and 1958. When the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, Schweitzer saw it as a sign of hope.
Albert Schweitzer lived out his final years in his beloved jungle hospital, and on September 4, 1965, he died at the age of ninety. He was buried next to his wife Hélène, on the bank of the river that leads to his hospital, which continues to operate to this day.