Albert Camus, born in Algeria in 1913, was a philosopher and author who introduced the idea of ‘Absurdism’. He opposed capital punishment and was a political activist. Camus married twice and had many relationships. He rejected the title of “existentialist writer” and “philosopher of the absurd”. Camus died in a car accident three years after receiving the Nobel Prize in literature.
Albert Camus was born in Mondovì, Algeria in 1913. Author and philosopher, he was the second youngest winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, receiving the award in 1957. His writings and philosophies brought the idea of ‘Absurdism. His idea of the absurd was the human search for meaning and clarity within a world that offers no explanation of either.
In his early years, Albert Camus studied at the University of Algiers, but contracted tuberculosis, which forced him to continue his studies part-time. In 1934 he joined the French Communist Party, but soon ran into trouble and was denounced as a Trotskyist. That same year he married Simone Hie, a morphine addict. The marriage soon fell apart due to infidelity on both sides.
Throughout his life, Albert Camus has always been a political activist. He has spent his entire life strongly opposing capital punishment. During the war, he joined the French resistance group Combat and wrote for an underground newspaper of the same name. In 1943, Albert Camus became the newspaper’s editor, and when the Allies liberated Paris, Camus was to report on the latest in the fighting. It was during his time at the newspaper that he met the existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre.
In 1947, Albert Camus toured America lecturing on French existentialism. His strong views against Communism alienated him from the Communist Party and eventually from Sartre. His book The Rebel, published in 1951, was an analysis of revolution and rebellion that clarified his position against communism.
In 1940, Albert Camus married Francine Faure, a mathematician and pianist. Camus has argued passionately against the institution of marriage, arguing that it is unnatural. Although he loved Francine and had twins with her, he kept telling her friends that he wasn’t cut out for marriage. Camus has had many relationships, including a very public one with Spanish actress Maria Casares.
Although he rejected the title of “existentialist writer”, Albert Camus also disliked the title of “philosopher of the absurd” with which he was labeled. Camus’ writings reflect on the experience of the absurd, rather than trying to define philosophy. In 1942 he published L’Etranger (The Stranger / Outsider), his best-known story of a man who lives an absurd life.
Camus’ philosophies of the absurd deal with the ideas of dualism; life and death, happiness and sadness, darkness and light, and so on. He brings to the reader’s attention that happiness is short-lived and death is inevitable. His goal is not to be morbid, but to emphasize that people should enjoy happiness while it lasts. In Le Mythe, dualism is a paradox. We can live with the dualism of happiness and unhappiness, but we cannot live with the paradox of thinking that our lives are both very important and also very meaningless.
Albert Camus died in a car accident three years after receiving the Nobel Prize in literature. Early in his life, he had said that the craziest way to die was to be killed in a car accident. Two of Camus’ works were published after his death, A Happy Death in 1970 and the unfinished The First Man in 1995.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
