100 years ago in French Algeria, on November 7th of 1913, author Albert Camus was born. The second son of Lucien and
Catherine Camus, he was just 11-months-old when his father was killed in action
during The Battle of the Marne;
his mother, partially deaf and illiterate, then raised her boys in extreme
poverty with the help of his heavy-handed grandmother.
It was in school that Camus shone, due in no small part to the
encouragement offered by his beloved teacher, Louis Germain, a man who fostered
the potential he saw and steered young Camus on a path that would eventually
see him write some hugely respected, award-winning novels and essays.
Soon after winning the Nobel Prize, Camus used the
occasion to write a touching note of gratitude to this hero in his life…
19
November 1957
Dear
Monsieur Germain,
I let
the commotion around me these days subside a bit before speaking to you from
the bottom of my heart. I have just been given far too great an honour, one I
neither sought nor solicited.
But
when I heard the news, my first thought, after my mother, was of you. Without
you, without the affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I
was, without your teaching and example, none of all this would have happened.
I
don’t make too much of this sort of honour. But at least it gives me the
opportunity to tell you what you have been and still are for me, and to assure
you that your efforts, your work, and the generous heart you put into it still
live in one of your little schoolboys who, despite the years, has never stopped
being your grateful pupil. I embrace you with all my heart.
Albert
Camus
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