Gabriel Honoré Marcel[a] (1889â€"1973) was a French philosopher,
playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist. The
author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work
focused on the modern individual's struggle in a technologically
dehumanizing society. Though often regarded as the first French
existentialist, he dissociated himself from figures such as Jean-Paul
Sartre, preferring the term philosophy of existence or
neo-Socrateanism to define his own thought. The Mystery of Being is a
well-known two-volume work authored by Marcel.Marcel was born on 7
December 1889 in Paris, France. His mother Laure Meyer, who was
Jewish, died when he was young and he was brought up by his aunt and
father, Henry Marcel. When he was eight he moved for a year where his
father was minister plenipotentiary.[5]Marcel completed his DES
thesis[b] (diplôme d'études supérieures [fr], roughly equivalent to
an MA thesis) and obtained the agrégation in philosophy from the
Sorbonne in 1910, at the unusually young age of 20. During the First
World War he worked as head of the Information Service, organized by
the Red Cross to convey news of injured soldiers to their families.[5]
He taught in secondary schools, was a drama critic for various
literary journals, and worked as an editor for Plon, the major French
Catholic publisher.[6]Marcel was the son of an agnostic,[5] and was
himself an atheist until his conversion to Catholicism in 1929. Marcel
was opposed to anti-Semitism and supported reaching out to
non-Catholics.
playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist. The
author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work
focused on the modern individual's struggle in a technologically
dehumanizing society. Though often regarded as the first French
existentialist, he dissociated himself from figures such as Jean-Paul
Sartre, preferring the term philosophy of existence or
neo-Socrateanism to define his own thought. The Mystery of Being is a
well-known two-volume work authored by Marcel.Marcel was born on 7
December 1889 in Paris, France. His mother Laure Meyer, who was
Jewish, died when he was young and he was brought up by his aunt and
father, Henry Marcel. When he was eight he moved for a year where his
father was minister plenipotentiary.[5]Marcel completed his DES
thesis[b] (diplôme d'études supérieures [fr], roughly equivalent to
an MA thesis) and obtained the agrégation in philosophy from the
Sorbonne in 1910, at the unusually young age of 20. During the First
World War he worked as head of the Information Service, organized by
the Red Cross to convey news of injured soldiers to their families.[5]
He taught in secondary schools, was a drama critic for various
literary journals, and worked as an editor for Plon, the major French
Catholic publisher.[6]Marcel was the son of an agnostic,[5] and was
himself an atheist until his conversion to Catholicism in 1929. Marcel
was opposed to anti-Semitism and supported reaching out to
non-Catholics.
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