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Bergson Henri 1859 - 1941 (82)

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating yourself endlessly.


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The Creative Mind:



Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was a French philosopher, one of the most important of the first half of the 20th century. He was born in Paris on October 18, 1859, his father was a composer of Polish Jewish origin, his mother was English. Until he was 9 they lived in London and he learned excellent English, then they moved to France. He studied philosophy and initially worked as a teacher in secondary education until he was appointed in 1898 as professor of philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure. In 1900 he occupied the Chair of Greek and Latin Philosophy, and from 1904 the Chair of Modern Philosophy.

In 1907, after the publication of his work "Creative Evolution", he became known in circles outside the university, for the next few years he was the philosopher-star of French society with crowds of young people attending his classes and lectures and each of his book to become best seller. In 1914 he was elected to the French Academy, in the period 1921-1925 he was president of the Commission for Spiritual Cooperation of the League of Nations. After 1925 he retired from public life and concentrated on his writing. In 1927 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1934 he publicly expressed his concern about the rise of anti-Semitism and Nazism, in 1940 he expressed his opposition to the Vichy regime. He died in early 1941 and his funeral marked the beginning of resistance by French intellectuals against the German occupation.