Albert Camus (1913–1960)

Albert Camus was born to French-Spanish parents in Mondovi, a small village in northeastern Algeria, then a French colony. His Algerian origins were a dominating influence in his thought and work. His father was killed serving in the French army in World War I. In 1933, he enrolled at the University of Algiers, where he earned the equivalent of a master's degree in philosophy and certificates in sociology and psychology. He became a theater professional and journalist, joining the staff of the Alger-Républicain in 1938. During this period, he published his first two literary works: L'envers et l'endroit (Betwixt and Between, 1937), a collection of short semi-autobiographical and philosophical pieces, and Noces (Nuptials). He was in Paris working for Paris-Soir magazine at the outbreak of World War II, and joined the French Resistance. His first novel L'Étranger (The Stranger or The Outsider) and his nonfiction book Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus) were both published in 1942, bringing him immediate literary fame. He wrote for and edited Combat, the clandestine newspaper of the Resistance movement, while dealing with recurrent bouts of tuberculosis. After the war, he left political journalism and focused on essays, fiction, and his work as a theater producer and playwright. His famous novel La Peste (The Plague, 1947), expounded his ideas on the absurdity and injustice of the world. Other well-known works included the play Caligula (1938); La Chute (The Fall, 1956); Resistance, Rebellion, and Death (1961), a collection of essays; and his notebooks, published in the 1960s. Camus died in an auto accident in 1960 at age 46.