| Motivation: | Albert Schweitzer was nominated for his humanitarian work on a religious basis. Originally a student of theology and philosophy, he entered medical school in 1905 in order to qualify as a mission doctor in Gabon, at the time part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1913 he arrived at Lambaréné where he and his wife set up a hospital. He spent most of his life at Lambaréné, although he was still preoccupied with philosophical problems. His most significant contribution in this respect was the book "The Philosophy of Civilization" (1923), in which he developed the concept "reverence for life" as a universal principle of ethics. He also made efforts to promote Franco-German reconciliaton. |
