Albert camus study smarter

1. Biography of Albert Camus
2. Influence of Louis Germain
3. Moving to France and Resistance Movement
4. Later Years and Legacy

Biography of Albert Camus

French essayist, writer, and playwright Albert Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria, into a family of Lucien Camus, a rural worker of Alsatian origin who died in the Battle of the Marne during World War I when Albert was less than a year old. Shortly after, his mother, Catherine Sintes, a semi-illiterate woman of Spanish descent, suffered a stroke that left her partially mute. The Camus family moved to Algeria to live with Albert's grandmother and disabled uncle, and Catherine had to work as a maid to support the family. Despite a difficult childhood, Albert did not withdraw into himself; he was fascinated by the incredible beauty of the North African coast, which contrasted with the hardships of his life. These childhood impressions left a deep mark on Camus's soul as a human being and artist.

Influence of Louis Germain

Camus's school teacher, Louis Germain, played a significant role in his life, recognizing his student's talents and providing him with constant support. With Germain's help, Albert managed to enroll in a lyceum in 1923, where he combined a keen interest in studying with a passionate love for sports, especially boxing. However, in 1930, Camus fell ill with tuberculosis, which permanently prevented him from engaging in sports. Despite his illness, the future writer had to change several professions to pay for his studies at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Algiers. In 1934, Camus married Simone Hie, who turned out to be a morphine addict. They lived together for less than a year and officially divorced in 1939. After completing his work on Saint Augustine and the Greek philosopher Plotinus, Camus received a Master's degree in Philosophy in 1936, but another bout of tuberculosis prevented him from continuing his academic career as a graduate student.

Moving to France and Resistance Movement

Leaving the university, Camus embarked on a journey to the French Alps for health reasons, and for the first time, he found himself in Europe. Impressions from his travels in Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and France became the basis for his first published book, "L'Envers et L'endroit" (The Wrong Side and the Right Side, 1937), a collection of essays that also included memories of his mother, grandmother, and uncle. In 1936, Camus started working on his first novel, "La Mort Heureuse" (A Happy Death), which was only published in 1971. Meanwhile, in Algeria, Camus was already considered a leading writer and intellectual. During this time, he combined his theatrical activities as an actor, playwright, and director with work at the newspaper "Alger Republicain" as a political reporter, book reviewer, and editor. A year after the release of his second book, "Noces" (Nuptials, 1938), Camus permanently moved to France.

During the German occupation of France, Camus actively participated in the Resistance movement and collaborated in the underground newspaper "Le Combat," published in Paris. Alongside this activity, Camus worked on completing his novel "L'Etranger" (The Stranger, 1942), which he had started in Algeria and which brought him international recognition. The novel analyzes the alienation and meaninglessness of human existence. The protagonist of the novel, Meursault, who becomes a symbol of an existential anti-hero, refuses to adhere to the conventions of bourgeois morality. For committing an "absurd" murder, without any motive, Meursault is sentenced to death because he does not conform to the accepted norms of behavior. The dry, detached style of narration (which, according to some critics, connects Camus to Hemingway) emphasizes the horror of the events. "L'Etranger," which had a tremendous success, was followed by the philosophical essay "Le Mythe de Sisyphe" (The Myth of Sisyphus, 1942), in which the author compares the absurdity of human existence to the mythical struggles of Sisyphus, condemned to eternal battle against forces he cannot overcome. Rejecting the Christian idea of salvation and the afterlife, which gives meaning to Sisyphus's human toil, Camus paradoxically finds meaning in the struggle itself. According to Camus, salvation lies in everyday work, and the meaning of life is found in action.

Later Years and Legacy

After the end of the war, Camus continued to work for a while at "Le Combat," which became the official daily newspaper. However, political disagreements between the right and left forces forced Camus, who considered himself an independent radical, to leave the newspaper in 1947. In the same year, his third novel, "La Peste" (The Plague), was published. It tells the story of a plague epidemic in the Algerian city of Oran, but metaphorically, it represents the Nazi occupation of France and, more broadly, the symbol of death and evil. The theme of universal evil is also present in "Caligula" (1945), the play based on Suetonius's "The Lives of the Twelve Caesars," which is considered a significant milestone in the history of the Theater of the Absurd. During the post-war period, Camus became one of the leading figures in French literature and had a close relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre. However, the paths to overcoming the absurdity of existence diverged for Camus and Sartre, leading to a break between them and existentialism, of which Sartre was considered the leader. In "L'Homme Revolte" (The Rebel, 1951), Camus examines the theory and practice of protest against power throughout centuries, criticizing dictatorial ideologies, including communism and other forms of totalitarianism that encroach on freedom and, therefore, human dignity. Although Camus stated as early as 1945 that he had "too few points of contact with the fashionable philosophy of existentialism, the conclusions of which are false," it was precisely his rejection of Marxism that led to Camus's rupture with the pro-Marxist Sartre.

In the 1950s, Camus continued to write essays, plays, and prose. In 1956, he released the ironic novel "La Chute" (The Fall), in which the repentant judge Jean-Baptiste Clamence confesses his crimes against morality. Drawing on the themes of guilt and repentance, Camus extensively uses Christian symbolism in "La Chute." In 1957, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness lights up the problems of the human conscience in our time." Anders Österling, the representative of the Swedish Academy, mentioned in his speech that Camus's philosophical views emerged from the sharp contradiction between accepting earthly existence and an awareness of the reality of death. In his acceptance speech, Camus stated that his work is based on the desire to "avoid outright lies and resist oppression."

When Camus received the Nobel Prize, he was only 44 years old and, according to his own words, had reached creative maturity. He had extensive creative plans, as evidenced by his notebooks and the memories of his friends. However, these plans were never fulfilled. In early 1960, the writer died in a car accident in southern France.

Although Camus's work sparked lively debates after his death, many critics consider him one of the most significant figures of his time. Camus portrayed the alienation and disillusionment of the post-war generation but persistently sought a way out of the absurdity of modern existence. The writer faced sharp criticism for rejecting Marxism and Christianity, but his influence on contemporary literature is beyond doubt. In an obituary published in the Italian newspaper "Corriere della sera," Italian poet Eugenio Montale wrote that "Camus's nihilism does not exclude hope nor does it free a person from the difficult problem of how to live and die with dignity." According to American researcher Susan Sontag, "Camus's prose is dedicated not so much to his characters but to the problems of guilt and innocence, responsibility and nihilistic indifference." While acknowledging that Camus's work lacks "high artistry or depth of thought," Sontag claims that "his works possess a different kind of beauty, a moral beauty." English critic A. Alvarez holds the same opinion, calling Camus a "moralist who has raised ethical issues to a philosophical level."