Albert Camus

Albert Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria, in 1913 to a poor pied-noir family. His father died in World War I, and Camus was raised by his illiterate mother. He studied philosophy at the University of Algiers, but tuberculosis cut short his academic career. During World War II, he became a leading figure in the French Resistance as editor of the newspaper Combat. His major works include the novel The Outsider (1942), the philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), and the novel The Plague (1947). Camus developed the philosophy of absurdism, arguing that life has no inherent meaning but that individuals must create their own values. He won the Nobel Prize in 1957, and died in a car accident in 1960. His clear, restrained prose and moral seriousness have made him a lasting influence on existential and humanist thought.