Albert Camus (French: [albɛʁ kamy]; 7 November 1913 - 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He wrote in his essay The Rebel that his whole life was devoted to opposing the philosophy of nihilism while still delving deeply into individual freedom. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

Camus did not consider himself to be an existentialist despite usually being classified as one, even in his lifetime. In a 1945 interview, Camus rejected any ideological associations: ""No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked..."".

Camus was born in Algeria to a Pied-Noir family, and studied at the University of Algiers from which he graduated in 1936. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons to ""denounce two ideologies found in both the USSR and the USA"".

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Photograph by United Press International [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Sandra Smith was born and raised in New York City. As an undergraduate, she spent one year studying at the Sorbonne and fell in love with Paris. Immediately after finishing her BA, she was accepted to do a Master's Degree at New York University, in conjunction with the Sorbonne, and so lived in Paris for another year. After completing her MA, she moved to Cambridge, where she began teaching 20th Century French Literature, Modern French Drama and Translation at the University. Soon afterwards, she was accepted to study for a PhD at Clare College, researching the Surrealist Theatre in France between the two World Wars. Sandra Smith taught French Literature and Language at Robinson College, University of Cambridge for many years and has been a guest lecturer and professor at Columbia University, Harvard and Sarah Lawrence College. She currently lives in Minneapolis and teaches for NYU.

Literary/Translation Prizes for 'Suite française':

Winner of the Pen Book of the Month Club Translation Prize (USA) 2006

Winner of the French-American Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize (USA) 2007

The Quill Award, USA, shortlisted for Book of the Year 2006, General Fiction category. (The only book in translation shortlisted.)

Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize for Fiction 2006. Shortlisted.

British Book Awards: Border's Book of the Year 2006. Shortlisted.

The Oxford Weidenfeld Prize for French Translation. Shortlisted.

Independent Newspaper Foreign Fiction Prize: only open to living authors, so ineligible, but awarded a 'Special Commendation' by the panel 19 January 2007.

Literary/Translation Prizes for Other Works:

'But You Did Not Come Back' by Marceline Loridan-Ivens, National Jewish Book Award, 2017: Winner

'The Prodigal Child' by Irène Némirovsky, Jewish Book Award, 2022: Finalist

'Inseparable' by Simone de Beauvoir, French-American Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize 2022: Finalist