Albert Camus, the teacher who "discovered" him and guided him--a genuine example of authencity and gratitude in a fragmented world

[John Raymaker]

When Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, he was only 44 years old — one of the youngest ever to receive the honor. The world praised him as a moral voice for his generation, the author of The Stranger, The Plague, and The Myth of Sisyphus. His writing had dissected the absurdity of existence and the struggle for meaning in a broken world. Yet when the telegram arrived announcing his victory, Camus did not think of fame, philosophy, or glory.

He thought of his teacher.

That evening, he sat down and wrote a letter to Louis Germain, the elementary school teacher who had believed in him when no one else did.

Camus was born in poverty in Mondovi, Algeria, in 1913. His father died in World War I when he was just a year old, and his mother, nearly illiterate and partially deaf, worked as a cleaner to keep the family alive. Their home had no electricity, no running water, and no books. By every expectation, young Albert was not meant to go far.

But Louis Germain saw something in him.

He noticed the quiet intelligence, the sharp mind, and the curiosity hidden behind the boy’s silence. Germain encouraged him to read, to write, to question the world. When the time came for the entrance exam to secondary school — something rare for a working-class child — Germain personally tutored Camus after school, refusing to let poverty define the boy’s future.

Decades later, when Camus learned that he had won the Nobel Prize, he wrote to his old teacher:

“Without you, without that affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I was, without your teaching and your example, none of all this would have happened.”

He ended with simple words that carried the weight of a lifetime:

“I embrace you with all my heart.”

It was a deeply human moment. The philosopher who had written about the absurdity of the universe did not respond with detachment or irony, but with gratitude. In a world where intellectuals often chase prestige, Camus’ first thought was of a man who had taught him kindness and belief.

This small act — a letter of thanks — reveals more about Albert Camus than perhaps all his essays combined. It shows that for him, greatness was not about prizes, but about people. It was about memory, debt, and humility.

Camus never forgot where he came from, nor the hands that lifted him.

[Doug Mounce]

Thanks John, I know that Voegelin believed Camus, in his writing, was trending toward EV's own interpretation of the classical Greek experience when his life tragically ended. 

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https://staff.washington.edu/mounce/

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