Albert Camus was born by French parents in Algeria in 1913, but moved to France in 1940, where he became active in the French resistance. It was here that he met the philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. Camus and Sartre became two of the most prominent writers developing modern existential philosophy and literature, although Camus consistently refused to be labeled ‘existentialist’ himself.
Camus is best known for his novels, ’L’Étranger’ (The Stranger) (1942), ’ La Peste’ (The Plague) (1947), ’L’Homme révolté’ (The Rebel) (1951) og ’La chute’ (The Fall) (1956), but he also wrote essays, short stories and philophical books – among them ’Le Mythe de Sisyphe’ (The Myth of Sisyphus) (1942).
Beside ’Le malentendu’ Camus’ most important plays are Caligula (1945), ’Les justes’ (The Just) (1950) and his adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel, ’Les Possédés’ (‘Demons’) (1959).
Albert Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1957 and is now considered one of the most important writers of the 20th Century. He died in a car crash on January the 4th 1960, only 46 years old.
Albert Camus, Stockholm 1957
