When Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize, he wrote a letter to one of his former teachers. “I leave the agitation around me these days to calm down a little before talking to you about the bottom of my heart,” begins the letter. “I have just received an honor far too big, one that I have neither asked nor solicited. But when I heard the news, my first thought, after my mother, was from you. ” Because it was from this teacher, a certain Louis Germain, that the young Camus without father received the advice he needed. “Without you, without the affectionate hand, you extended to the poor poor child that I was, without your teaching and your example, none of this would have happened.”
Camus ends the letter by assuring Mr. Germain that “your efforts, your work and the generous heart that you put there always live in one of your little schoolchildren who, despite the years, have never ceased to be your grateful student.”
In response, Germain recalls his memories of Camus as an optimistic student not affected. “I think I know the pretty little guy you were well, and very often the child contains the seed of the man he will become,” he wrote. Whatever the process of intellectual and artistic evolution during the 30th anniversary between leaving the class and winning the Nobel, “it gives me a great satisfaction to see that your fame has not gone to the head. You stayed Camus: Bravo. “
It is not difficult to understand why Camus' letter to his teacher would resonate with footballer Ian Wright, who reads him aloud THE Live letters Video at the top of the publication. A 2005 documentary on her life and her career products The first viral video aboveA clip capturing the moment of the unexpected reunion of Wright with his own academic paternal figure, Sydney Pigden. Facing his former mentor, whom he supposed to have died, Wright instinctively removes his cap and addresses him as “M. Pigden ”. At that time, the student-teacher relationship resumes: “I am so happy that you have done so well with yourself,” explains Pigden, a feeling not different from that that Mr. Germain expressed in Camus. Most of us, no matter how long we have been without school, have a teacher that we hope to be proud; Some of us, whether we know it or not, were this teacher.
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Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.