# Henri Bergson

## Biography

Henri Bergson, a prominent French philosopher, was born in Paris on October 18, 1859, to a Polish-Jewish father and an English-Jewish mother. After spending his early childhood in London, his family settled in Paris, where he pursued his education. He attended the Lycée Condorcet and later the École Normale Supérieure, demonstrating exceptional intellectual prowess. Bergson embarked on a distinguished academic career, teaching at various lycées before joining the prestigious Collège de France in 1900, where he held the chair of philosophy.

He became renowned for his "process philosophy," emphasizing the values of motion, change, and evolution over static concepts. His philosophical works, including *Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience* (Time and Free Will), *Matière et mémoire* (Matter and Memory), and *L'Évolution créatrice* (Creative Evolution), explored the nature of time, consciousness, and the concept of *élan vital*, a creative life force. Bergson’s eloquent writing style earned him widespread recognition, culminating in the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927 for his rich and dynamic ideas. He passed away in Paris in 1941.

## Books

- [Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic](https://samolit.com/books/96456)