Gabriel Marcel - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Marcel was born and died in Paris. His mother died when he was young and he was brought up by his aunt and father. When he was eight he moved to Stockholm for a year where his father was Minister Plenipotentiary.

Marcel obtained the agrégation in philosophy in 1910, at the unusually young age of 21. During the First World War he worked as head of the Information Service, organised by the Red Cross to convey news of injured soldiers to their families. 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.

Marcel was the son of an agnostic, 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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