Jean-Paul Sartre: His Beginnings
...discussing topics relevant to the epoch he lived in. He was a man who was aware of the problems that existed among society and disapproved them. Even though he lost sight on one eye, his philosophical vision was quite more powerful. The experiences he lived made him discern and decrypt how society was divided. His existentialistic approach to things caused many to think more conscious about their actions and not blame them on other factors but themselves. He was a magnificent student who at early years of age developed some impressive theories about existence. Reading was also his passion; he would forget all that surrounded him and read unconsciously for hours. At one point in college, he read more than 300 books in one year; all from different topics and authors. As a teacher, he was fascinating; making classes very interesting and asking his students questions about the topic they were discussing about. He disliked the authoritarian role teachers had against students; so instead of seeing his students as inferiors, he saw them as almost classmates. He shared his life with the woman he would never marry but had what they called a, “morganatic marriage relationship.” (Hayman 77) She replaced the love of his mom that he had lost at one point of his life due to the imposition women suffered from, back then.
Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris, France on June 21 of 1905. He was the only child of Jean-Baptiste Sartre and his wife, Anne-Marie née Schweitzer. Anne-Marie was the only surviving daughter and youngest child of Charles Schweitzer, a language arts teacher from Alsace. Sartre’s maternal grandfather (Charles) was the brother of Louis Schweitzer and whose son was Albert Schweitzer, a famous Bach scholar, musician, theologian, and Christian missionary who also won a Nobel Prize. On the other hand, Jean Baptiste was a naval engineer. His father, Sartre’s...
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