About Albert Schweitzer
Written by Herbert Sigmond, MD
Albert Schweitzer (January 14, 1885 -September 4, 1965) was a true humanitarian. At the age of 30, already a doctor of philosophy and theology, and an accomplished musician and composer, he made the decision to become a medical doctor and dedicate the rest of his life to helping his fellow man.
Upon completion of medical school in 1913, he set sail for French Equatorial Africa, which is now called Gabon, West Africa. At that time 25 percent of the people had Hansen's disease (Leprosy) and sleeping sickness was rampant. He built a hospital on the Ooguwe River in the jungle near the village of Lambarene.
Dr. Schweitzer practiced simple medicine and while there, developed his philosophy of Reverence for Life. Erica Anderson best expressed this philosophy: All life is one, every creature depends on others and all are entitled to respect and care.
Dr. Schweitzer felt that if each man, each family, each nation, treated their neighbor, whether next door or in the next country, like they would treat their own pets, that there would be no wars.
He felt that good and evil were present in every man and that each person is ultimately responsible for how that expression would take form.
When I arrived in Lambarene in 1965, his hospital was a sprawling town consisting of 72 buildings. The resident population of patients and families hovered at around 3000 including volunteer staff of five doctors and twenty nurses. He never sent anyone away, saying, "You can not see into other peoples hearts - the one you refuse may need you the most - you may be their last hope." His vision included world peace as an attainable goal. For his work toward peace and against nuclear proliferation, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.
Albert Einstein said of him: "He did not preach or ever dream that his life would be an example to others. He acted simply out of inner necessity. There must yet be an indestructible good in every man - otherwise they might not have recognized his simple greatness."