Born: 18 October 1859 · Died: 4 January 1941 · Age: 81
French philosopher of Creative Evolution, known for his ideas on time, memory and the vital impulse, and a Nobel laureate
Did you know?His lectures in Paris were so popular that people used to send servants ahead to save seats in the hall.
Quick facts
Date of birth18 October 1859
Date of death4 January 1941
Age at death81
Cause of deathBronchitis
NationalityFrench
BirthplaceParis, France
Occupationphilosopher, professor, sociologist
Editor's Take:
Henri Bergson was the most celebrated French philosopher of the early 20th century. He argued that time as we live it is different from clock time. He called it duration. He wrote about memory, intuition and the creative force of life, which he called élan vital. His lectures in Paris drew huge crowds. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927. He was admired by writers such as Proust.
Key Milestones
1889: Time and Free Will – first book
1896: Matter and Memory – book
1900: Collège de France – professor
1907: Creative Evolution – fame
Henri-Louis Bergson (French:; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the Second World War, but also after 1966 when Gilles Deleuze published Le…
