Passion or Profession: Physician, Humanitarian

Period: 1875–1965

A native of the Alsace region (now in France), Albert Schweitzer spent four decades in Gabon. He completed a doctorate in theology at the University of Strasbourg in 1899 and became a preacher and lecturer of philosophy. He also enjoyed a successful career as a concert organist. With the ambition of becoming a medical missionary in Africa, he studied to become a doctor from 1905 to 1913. He and his wife, Hélène Bresslau, founded what was to become an internationally-renowned hospital at Lambaréné (now in Gabon) that year. Their work was interrupted by World War I, but they returned in 1924. Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. He died in Lambaréné in 1965.