Alain

Émile-Auguste Chartier (French: [ʃaʁtje]; 3 March 1868 – 2 June 1951), commonly known as Alain ([alɛ̃]), was a French philosopher, journalist, essayist, pacifist, and teacher of philosophy.

Early life and teaching

Alain was born in 1868 in the rural town of Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandy, the son of a veterinary surgeon. After attending the local Catholic school, in 1881, he entered the lycée of Alençon, where he passed the examinations of the baccalauréat in literature (and failed the science baccalaureat). He proceeded to the Lycée Michelet in Vanves, a suburb of Paris, where he came under the influence of the philosopher Jules Lagneau. His exceptional intelligence led him to the École Normale Supérieure in 1889, and to the agrégation in philosophy in 1892. This qualified him for a career as a teacher of philosophy, which he pursued in schools in Lorient, Rouen, Paris and, in particular, the Lycée Henri IV from 1909, where he taught the prestigious preparatory classes to the École Normale. Sartre's career would begin in a similar way, forty years later. Alain taught at the Lycée Henri IV, with an interruption for the First World War, until his retirement in 1933, having chosen not to pursue a Ph.D. and teach in the university system. In these years he gained a reputation as an inspiring teacher; his students included major philosophers such as Simone Weil and Georges Canguilhem, writers such as André Maurois, Julien Gracq, and Roger Judrin, and even great political leaders like Maurice Schuman, a founding father of modern Europe. Alain's influence was felt beyond his class: Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir attended his public lectures, and Raymond Aron became a close acquaintance.