Ernest Bueding collection of Albert Schweitzer letters

Collection

Identifier: MS-0069

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The materials in this collection were collected to document the friendship between Dr. Albert Schweitzer and Dr. Ernest Bueding. The collection consists of original manuscript letters of Albert Schweitzer, correspondence of Dr. Bueding concerning Schweitzer's work, printed material about Schweitzer, and original and copy photographs of Schweitzer. The collection contains an autographed copy of Schweitzer's A l'orée de la fôret vièrge (1929).

Dates

1929-1987

Creator

Bueding, Ernest, 1910-1986 (Person)

Language of Materials

The letters from Schweitzer are mainly in German with some in French. Bueding's correspondence with the pharmaceutical companies is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Collection is open for use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical Note

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was an Alsatian musician, philosopher, physician, missionary, and author. For over fifty years until his death Schweitzer operated a medical mission at Lambarene in what was then French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon). Ernest Bueding was a parasite biochemist and pharmacologist who shared Schwitzer's interest in medicine and music.

Bueding first met Schweitzer in the early 1930s. At that time Schweitzer was hospitalized in the Institute awaiting the results of tests of a vaccine for yellow fever--tests in which Schweitzer insisted that he himself be the guinea pig before he would allow the vaccine to be used on his patients at Lambarene. Ernest Bueding, as the youngest member of the staff, was delegated to be the person who should help Dr. Schweitzer pass the time.

By the mid-1940s Bueding had completed his training as a parasite biochemist and pharmacologist, and he renewed his interest in Schweitzer's medical work especially his work with leprosy. Bueding helped procure drugs for Schweitzer to use at his mission. The two corresponded until 1957, but Dr. Bueding retained his interest in Schweitzer's work by collecting material about Schweitzer until Bueding's death in 1986.

Extent

0.79 Cubic Feet (1 legal size document box, 1 flat box (15.5 x 12 x 3 inches))

Additional Description

Abstract

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was an Alsatian musician, philosopher, physician, missionary, and author. Ernest Bueding was a parasite biochemist and pharmacologist who shared Schwitzer's interest in medicine and music. The collection consists of original manuscript letters of Albert Schweitzer, correspondence of Dr. Bueding concerning Schweitzer's work, printed material about Schweitzer, and original and copy photographs of Schweitzer.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The letters were donated in part by Ernest Bueding in 1981 and added to by his widow in 1988.

The letters written by Albert Schweitzer, the copy of Schweitzer's A L'Oree de la Foret Vierge, and the copy photographs were donated by Dr. Ernest Bueding in 1981. Mrs. Bueding donated Dr. Bueding's correspondence with the drug companies, one photograph and the printed material in 1988.

Existence and Location of Copies

Both the Albert Schweitzer Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and the Archives Centrales Albert Schweitzer in Gunsbach, France hold copies of some of this material. Contact those institutions for more information.