He would have been a significant historical figure based on his accomplishments in any one of several areas.Īs a Christian theologian, he wrote about Paul and numerous subjects, with his most influential work being a historical treatment of Jesus. It was German when he was growing up.Īs I say, he more than made his mark in multiple fields. Schweitzer was from Alsace, a region that has gone back and forth between being part of France and part of Germany in recent European history. Oh and by the way, he was simultaneously going to medical school.
So, as he’s actively and successfully pursuing a career that requires much time and concentration, you then find out he somehow found the time to write a long and meticulously researched scholarly book in some other field. He seems like someone who never wasted any time, someone who used all of his abilities and all of his resources to the maximum. It’s hard to fathom that someone could do as much in their life as he did. Having now read his autobiography, and having read a bit about him here and there beyond that, yes I’m certainly impressed by his humanitarianism and compassionate nature, but what blows me away more is how extraordinarily productive and accomplished he was.
I think people who aren’t well acquainted with Schweitzer’s life and maybe have only heard the name and a little about his work have the vague impression of him as a maximally compassionate, saintly, maybe even Christlike figure who devoted his life to the poor-similar to the reputation in more recent years of (the wildly overrated) Mother Teresa. He is best known for his humanitarian work in Africa, but this autobiography was written closer to the middle than the end of his life, and thus covers only through the early years of his time in Africa. Out of My Life and Thought is Albert Schweitzer’s autobiography.
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