Albert Camus
01-21-2026
Who is Albert Camus?
Born into a working class Algerian family in 1913, Albert Camus was, for lack of a better word, ordinary. He spent his early and formative years in North Africa working multiple jobs to support his education at the University of Algiers. Soon after, he would realize a passion for journalism, using his strengths to report on popular stories which would quickly garner popularity. With this newfound stardom, Camus would later own and run a theatrical company showing plays by prominent writers like Dostoevsky.
His impact would not stop there, as during the second world war he was a lead writer for the French Resistance and Combat, an important underground newspaper. In the following times of piece Camus wrote many great books. Books so great, in fact, that in 1957 he received the Nobel peace prize in literature. However, at the very peak of his influence and attention, his life was ended in a car crash January 4th, 1960.
Camus' Beliefs
Camus' philosophy on life was shaped from an early age through his struggles in childhood. His dad had passed away in the first world war and his mother was illiterate. Additionally, at the young age of 17, Camus faced nearly fatal complications with tuberculosis. These experiences developed Camus' belief into a system that he would call absudirm. The root of Absurdism is this: humans desperately seek meaning in a universe that offers none. The difference between this and nihilism is that Camus suggests that we accept the absurd and live our life fully and passionately.