From the S&S archives:
Albert Schweitzer, Le Grand Docteur

DR. ALBERT SCHWEITZER, at 85, doesn't look in the least like a man who has spent long, hard years in the disease-infested jungles of equatorial Africa.

Indeed, the spry octogenarian still maintains a pace and a schedule that would stymie a man of 50 and his day, which starts when the sun comes up, never ends until well into the night.

Dr. Schweitzer has been going at full speed all his life. By the time he was 24 he had earned doctorates in philosophy, music and theology. At 25 he was ordained curate of the St. Nicholas Church in Strasbourg, France. At 30 he became head of the theological college of St. Thomas in Strasbourg. At 31 he decided to study medicine. At 38 he was a full fledged MD, a newlywed, and bound for Lambarene in one of the most inaccessible, darkest parts of Africa.

At 80, Schweitzer began building special wards for the nearly 200 lepers who now live at the village hospital he practically hand-carved out of the jungle.

During all this time Le Grand Docteur — as the natives call him — has found the time to write voluminous tomes on a variety of subjects, to each of which a lesser man would have had to devote his entire life.

His biography of Bach has never been excelled. His book on organ building is considered a classic. His "Quest of the Historical Jesus," was considered an earth-shaker and his psychiatric study of Christ, written in 1912, was the thesis which helped him earn his doctorate in medicine.

In addition to being a first-rate physician, an expert on tropical medicine, a world famous organist, a renowned philosopher and theologian, a prolific author and a Nobel Prize-winner, Schweitzer also is acclaimed as an expert in esthetics, tropical zoology, anthropology and agriculture. He speaks Latin, Greek, Hebrew, English, French and German; he is recognized, qualified and experienced as a veterinarian,, pharmacist, dentist, mechanic, draftsman, boat builder, mason, gardener, carpenter and lumberjack.

Yet, when he was asked recently whether he has thought of a successor when he retires, Schweitzer said, "I will retire only in heaven. There is too much work to be done here at my hospital."

A visit to his hospital compound is an exciting experience.

Schweitzer is a tall, well-built man who still has a spring to his long, loping step and a stoop to his shoulders which seems to come less from his age than from contemplating the cares of the world.

His establishment on the steaming Ogowe River is situated amidst a profusion of okoume trees at a tongue-twister of a settlement called Adolinanongo.

It is more than a hospital. It is a home for 980 bed patients, not including lepers or clinic visitors whose numbers are large and uncounted. In addition, every patient must bring a sponsor to do the cooking for him.

His haven for the helpless is also home for ailing animals and his grounds harbor a collection of. dogs, chickens, goats, pigs, and baby apes.

In the jungle that surrounds him, and in the river at his door, lurk crocodiles, hippopotamuses, pythons and gorillas.

And among the Galoas, Bandjas, Pahouins, Omines and other peoples who come to him for treatment are many descendents of cannibals.

Everyone works at Schweitzer's hospital. Meals are prepared by the sponsors of the bedridden. Those who can walk must help in the continuous process of building, repairing, living.

His compound is a melange of life — raw and primitive though it may be.

Schweitzer has few of the material comforts found in almost any modern civilization. There is no electricity except for a small generator used for emergency surgery. Since he must take full advantage of the daylight hours, Schweitzer long ago started a time system for his people which is different than that elsewhere. He sets his clock with the rising sun so that his time usually is 20-30 minutes behind local time.

Underlying his dedication to Africa and his renunciation of the comfortable life is Schweitzer's philosophy — his reverence for life.

"I am first a philosopher, second a physician," says the medical missionary, whose love of Christ cannot be measured in terms of organized religion.

Schweitzer's basic belief is that all forms of life must love each other.

"There is a spiritual evolution that moves between man and other living things, and that is not as far-fetched as you think," Schweitzer once told a visiting newsman.

"Surely you have read stories in your own newspaper of dogs sacrificing their lives to save children or of a faithful animal who pines away and dies when his master does.

"If an animal can sacrifice itself for children or other animals, surely man can do the same. For we must never forget that a human being is a thinking being who must be concerned for all living beings. Man can no longer live only for himself," he concluded.

Schweitzer brought his philosophy to the African jungles and has devoted his life to love for nearly half a century. Asked whether he had any regrets, he answered:

"If I had it all to do over I'd do it again ... and with the same mistakes," he emphasized.

A cross on a mound just outside the window of his combination bedroom-office marks the final resting place of Schweitzer's wife and helpmate, the former Helene Bresslau, who died in 1957 while on a visit to Switzerland.

Schweitzer apparently intends to serve out the remainder of his life at his jungle hospital. He considers himself both a French and Gabonese citizen.

But even as members of his loyal staff refuse to comment on a future without Schweitzer, the grand old man will not talk on this subject.

"I belief in a reverence for life — all life. And I wish you would have a reverence for mine," he recently told a persistently inquisitive reporter.