1960-- The Death of Camus

Portrait of Camus from New York World-Telegram and Sun Photograph Collection, 1957

Administrative organization of French Algeria between 1905 and 1955

1830 Jul-Aug -- French conquest of Algeria. Plunder of Algiers. Overthrow of Charles X Bourbon as king. 

1830 Aug 9 -- Louis Philippe (the Citizen King) takes the throne. Establishment of a new constitutional monarchical framework 

1839 -- Jihad against French rule in Algeria by Sufi brotherhood in Oran Region. 

In 1839 Abd al-Kader began a seven-year war by declaring jihad against the French in the Oran region. The French signed two peace treaties with al-Kader, but they were broken because of a miscommunication between the military and the Parisian government.

1843 -- French colonists began supervising through bureaux arabes, operated by military officials

The French modeled their colonial system on their predecessors, the Ottomans, by co-opting local tribes.

Large-scale regrouping of lands began when land-speculation companies took advantage of government policy that allowed massive sale of native property. 

1847 -- Rebel leader al-Kader surrenders to the French

1848 Feb -- French Revolution of 1848. Abdication of Louis Philippe. End of the French Monarchy. Proclamation of the Second French Republic.

1848 -- Algeria divided into three départements of France: Alger, Oran, and Constantine, and becomes part of the French Republic.

1913 Nov 7 -- Birth of Albert Camus

Albert Camus was born on 7 November 1913 in a working-class neighborhood in Mondovi (present-day Dréan), in French Algeria. His mother, Catherine Hélène Camus (née Sintès), was French with Spanish-Balearic ancestry. His father, Lucien Camus, a poor French agricultural worker 

1914 Aug -- Start of the Great War
1914 Sept -- Father of Camus is killed fighting in the Battle of the Marne in France.

Camus never knew his father. He, his mother and other relatives lived without many basic material possessions during his childhood in the Belcourt section of Algiers. He was a second-generation French in Algeria, a French territory from 1830 until 1962. His paternal grandfather, along with many others of his generation, had moved to Algeria for a better life during the 19th century. Hence, he was called pied-noir, ''black foot''—a slang term for French who were born in Algeria—and his identity and his poor background had a substantial effect on his later life, 

1928-1930 -- Camus plays goalkeeper for the Racing Universitaire d'Alger junior team.

In match reports, he was often praised for playing with passion and courage.

1930 -- Camus, age 17, develops tuberculosis, ending his athletic aspirations.
1933 -- Camus enrolls at the University of Algiers.
1933 -- Camus meets Simone Hié, then a partner of a friend of Camus, who would become his first wife.

Simone suffered from an addiction to morphine, a drug she used to ease her menstrual pains. His uncle Gustave did not approve of the relationship, but Camus married Hié to help her fight her addiction. He subsequently discovered she was in a relationship with her doctor at the same time and the couple later divorced.

1935 -- Camus joins the French Communist Party 

He saw it as a way to "fight inequalities between Europeans and 'natives' in Algeria," even though he was not a Marxist. He explained: "We might see communism as a springboard and asceticism that prepares the ground for more spiritual activities."

1936 May -- Camus writes his first play  Révolte dans les Asturies (Revolt in the Asturias)written with three friends in May 1936

1936 May -- Camus writes his first play  Révolte dans les Asturies (Revolt in the Asturias), written with three friends.

The subject was the 1934 revolt by Spanish miners that was brutally suppressed by the Spanish government resulting in 1,500 to 2,000 deaths.

1936 -- Camus leaves the French Communist Party.

1936-1939 -- The Spanish Civil  War

1936 -- Proposal by French politicians  Léon Blum and Maurice Viollett to open French citizenship to certain Muslim Algerians.

The Blum–Viollette proposal of 1936 takes its name from Léon Blum and Maurice Viollette, who acted as the French premier and governor-general of Algeria. The proposal was introduced to the Popular Front government of France in 1936, and aimed to address the issue of longstanding French colonialism in Algeria along with the persistent disenfranchisement of the territory's Muslim majority.The proposal would have enabled a small number of Algerian Muslims to obtain full French citizenship while still allowing them to be subject to Muslim law on some social issues (such as marriage/divorce, custody, inheritance).

1936 -- Formation of the pro-independence Algerian Communist Party. Camus joins and becomes the organizer of theater:

Camus joined it after his mentor Grenier advised him to do so. Camus's main role within the PCA was to organise the Théâtre du Travail ("Workers' Theatre"). Camus was also close to the Parti du Peuple Algérien (Algerian People's Party (PPA)), which was a moderate anti-colonialist/nationalist party. 

1936 -- Camus obtains licence de philosophie (BA)  from University of Algiers after presenting a thesis on Plotinus.

Camus developed an interest in early Christian philosophers, but Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer had paved the way towards pessimism and atheism. Camus also studied novelist-philosophers such as Stendhal, Herman Melville, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Franz Kafka.

1937 -- Camus publishes his first book.

His first book was L'Envers et l'Endroit (Betwixt and Between, also translated as The Wrong Side and the Right Side). Both the book and his first play were published by Edmond Charlot's small publishing house.

1938 -- Camus begins working for leftist newspaper Alger républicain.

By then, Camus had developed strong feelings against authoritative colonialism as he witnessed the harsh treatment of the Arabs and Berbers by French authorities.

1938 -- Camus gives address on "The New Mediterranean Culture"

Camus was a vocal advocate of the "new Mediterranean Culture". This was a term he used to describe his vision of embracing the multi-ethnicity of the Algerian people, in opposition to "Latiny", a popular pro-fascist and antisemitic ideology among other Pieds-Noirs—or French or Europeans born in Algeria. For Camus, this vision encapsulated the Hellenic humanism which survived among ordinary people around the Mediterranean Sea. His 1938 address on "The New Mediterranean Culture" represents Camus's most systematic statement of his views at this time. Camus also supported the Blum–Viollette proposal to grant Algerians full French citizenship in a manifesto with arguments defending this assimilative proposal on radical egalitarian grounds.

1940 early -- Alger républicain is banned from publication. Camus, age 27, flies to Paris to take a new job at Paris-Soir as editor-in-chief. This is a period of great literary productivity for him.

In Paris, he almost completed his "first cycle" of works dealing with the absurd and the meaningless—the novel L'Étranger, the philosophical essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe, and the play Caligula. Each cycle consisted of a novel, an essay and a theatrical play.

1940 Jun -- German Army invades France, occupying Paris. Camus leaves Paris. Vichy Government formed with authority over French Algeria. 

Camus volunteered to join the army but was not accepted because he had suffered from tuberculosis. As the Germans were marching towards Paris, Camus fled. He was laid off from Paris-Soir and ended up in Lyon,

1940 -- Algerian resistance movement to Vichy government organized among Jews.

1940 Dec -- Camus in Lyon marries pianist and mathematician Francine Faure. The couple then go back to Algeria. Camus and Faure moved back to Algeria where he taught in primary schools.

1941 -- Camus gives L'Etranger manuscript to André Malraux. Malraux suggests changes. The manuscript is submitted to the Germany Army for review.

hought the minimalist syntactic structure was too repetitive. Some scenes and passages (the murder, the conversation with the chaplain) should also be revised. The manuscript was then read by editors Jean Paulhan and Raymond Queneau. Gerhard Heller, a German editor, translator and lieutenant in the Wehrmacht working for the Censorship Bureau offered to help. The book was eventually published in June 1942–4,400 copies of it were printed.

1942 Jun -- Publication of L'Etranger in France by Éditions Gallimard.

1942 -- Camus moves to the French Alps on advice from his doctor's for his tuberculosis.

There he began writing his second cycle of works, this time dealing with revolt—a novel La Peste (The Plague) and a play Le Malentendu (The Misunderstanding).

1943 -- Camus, having become known for his earlier works, returns to Paris joining circle of academics and artists there.

he was known because of his earlier work. He returned to Paris where he met and became friends with Jean-Paul Sartre. He also became part of a circle of intellectuals including Simone de Beauvoir, André Breton, and others. Among them was the actress María Casares, who would later have an affair with Camus.

1943 -- After returning to Paris, Camus takes active part in resistance by writing for the banned newspaper Combat.

Camus used a pseudonym for his Combat articles and used false ID cards to avoid being captured. During that period he composed four Lettres à un Ami Allemand (Letters to a German Friend), explaining why resistance was necessary.

1943 Oct -- The discovery of Streptomycin, the first antibiotic cure for tuberculosis (TB).

Streptomycin was first isolated on October 19, 1943, by Albert Schatz, a PhD student in the laboratory of Selman Abraham Waksman at Rutgers University in a research project funded by Merck and Co.^[19][20] Waksman and his laboratory staff discovered several antibiotics, including actinomycin, clavacin, streptothricin, streptomycin, grisein, neomycin, fradicin, candicidin, and candidin. Of these, streptomycin and neomycin found extensive application in the treatment of numerous infectious diseases. Streptomycin was the first antibiotic cure for tuberculosis (TB). 

1944 Aug -- Liberation of Paris by the Allies

1944 -- Camus founds organization for creation of European federation.

Camus founded the Comité français pour la féderation européenne—(CFFE (French Committee for the European Federation))—declaring that Europe "can only evolve along the path of economic progress, democracy, and peace if the nation states become a federation."

1945 May 8 -- Sétif and Guelma massacres.

These were a series of attacks by French colonial authorities and pied-noir settler militias on Algerian civilians in 1945 around the market town of Sétif, west of Constantine, in French Algeria. French police fired on demonstrators at a protest on 8 May 1945. Riots in the town were followed by attacks on French settlers (colons) in the surrounding countryside, resulting in 102 deaths.

1945 -- Francine Faure gives birth to twins
1945 after -- Camus celebrated as famous writer.

Camus was now a celebrated writer known for his role in the Resistance. He gave lectures at various universities in the United States and Latin America during two separate trips. He also visited Algeria once more, only to leave disappointed by the continued oppressive colonial policies, which he had warned about many times. During this period he completed the second cycle of his work, with the novel L'Homme révolté (The Rebel).

1945 -- Camus visits Algeria after the massacre to report on conditions

Camus was one of only a few mainland journalists to visit the colony. He wrote a series of articles reporting on conditions, and advocating for French reforms and concessions to the demands of the Algerian people

1947-48 -- Camus founds a trade union organization based on syndicalism.

Groupes de liaison internationale (GLI) was a trade union movement in the context of revolutionary syndicalism ("syndicalisme révolutionnaire").His main aim was to express the positive side of surrealism and existentialism, rejecting the negativity and the nihilism of André Breton. Camus also raised his voice against the Soviet intervention in Hungary and the totalitarian tendencies of Franco's regime in Spain.

1951 -- Camus publishes L'Homme révolté, leading to a split with Sartre and other communists.

Camus attacked totalitarian communism while advocating libertarian socialism and anarcho-syndicalism.Upsetting many of his colleagues and contemporaries in France with his rejection of communism, the book brought about the final split with Sartre. His relations with the Marxist Left deteriorated further during the Algerian War

1952 -- Camus resigns from UNESCO when it accepts Franco's Spain as a member.

1954-1962 -- Algerian War of Independence. Camus invokes disfavor with both sides of the war.

When the Algerian War began in 1954, Camus was confronted with a moral dilemma. He identified with the Pieds-Noirs such as his own parents and defended the French government's actions against the revolt. He argued the Algerian uprising was an integral part of the "new Arab imperialism" led by Egypt, and an "anti-Western" offensive orchestrated by Russia to "encircle Europe" and "isolate the United States". Although favoring greater Algerian autonomy or even federation, though not full-scale independence, he believed the Pieds-Noirs and Arabs could co-exist. During the war, he advocated a civil truce that would spare the civilians. It was rejected by both sides who regarded it as foolish. Behind the scenes, he began working for imprisoned Algerians who faced the death penalty.  His position drew much criticism from the left who considered colonialism unacceptable. In their eyes, Camus was no longer the defender of the oppressed.

1957 Oct -- Camus receives Nobel Prize in Literature.

This came as a shock to him. He was anticipating André Malraux would win the prestigious award. At age 44, he was the second-youngest recipient of the prize, after Rudyard Kipling, who was 42. After this he began working on his autobiography Le Premier Homme (The First Man) in an attempt to examine "moral learning". He also turned to the theatre once more.

1958 -- Camus publishes essays on pacifism and the Algerian conflict:

After receiving the Nobel Prize, Camus gathered, clarified, and published his pacifist leaning views at Actuelles III: Chronique algérienne 1939–1958 (Algerian Chronicles). He then decided to distance himself from the Algerian War as he found the mental burden too heavy. He turned to theatre and the third cycle which was about love and the goddess Nemesis 

1959 Jan -- Camus' dramatic adaptation of Dostoyesky's Demons opens in Paris

Financed by the money he received with his Nobel Prize, he adapted and directed for the stage Dostoyevsky's novel Demons. The play opened in January 1959 at the Antoine Theatre in Paris and was a critical success.

1959 -- Introduction of Facel Vega HK500

1960 Jan 1 -- Camus and his family spend New Years holiday with publisher Michel Gallimard of Éditions Gallimard, and Gallimard's wife and daughter, near Lourmarin, Vaucluse.

1960 Jan 2 -- Camus's wife and children went back to Paris by train. 

1960 Jan 4 -- Camus killed in a car crash, driving a Facel Vega with his publisher and family.

Camus died on 4 January 1960 at the age of 46, in a car accident near Sens, in Le Grand Fossard in the small town of Villeblevin. Camus had decided to return to Paris in Gallimard's luxurious Facel Vega HK500. The car crashed into a plane tree on a long straight stretch of the Route nationale 5 (now the RN 6). Camus, who was in the passenger seat and not wearing a safety belt, died instantly. Gallimard died a few days later, although his wife and daughter were unharmed. There has been speculation that Camus was assassinated by the KGB because of his criticism of Soviet abuses.

1960 Jun 1 -- Census of Algeria counts 1,050,000 non-Muslim civilians (mostly Catholic, but including 130,000 Algerian Jews), 10 per cent of the population.

1962 -- French colonists in Algeria in possession of approximately 27% of the arable land.

1962 Mar -- End of the Algerian War. Adoption of the Evian Accords granting Algerian independence.