Alain de Botton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alain de Botton
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De Botton in 2011
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| Born | 20 December 1969 Zürich, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Writer, speaker |
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| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (BA) King's College London (MPhil) Harvard University |
| Period | 1993–present |
Alain de Botton (born 20 December 1969) is a writer and public speaker from Switzerland who later became a British citizen. He is famous for writing books about modern topics and showing how ideas from philosophy can help people with their everyday problems.
His first book, Essays in Love (1993), was a huge success, selling two million copies. He also wrote other popular books like How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).
In 2008, he helped start The School of Life, an organization that helps people learn about emotional skills. He also started Living Architecture in 2009. Because of his great work in writing, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2011.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alain de Botton was born in Zürich, Switzerland. His father, Gilbert de Botton, was a successful businessman, and his mother was Jacqueline Burgauer. He has one sister named Miel. For the first twelve years of his life, Alain lived in Switzerland and grew up speaking French and German.
When he was a boy, he moved to England for school. He attended the Dragon School and later Harrow School. He has said that he was a shy child at these boarding schools.
After finishing school, de Botton studied history at the University of Cambridge. He then earned a master's degree in Philosophy from King's College London. He started a PhD program in French philosophy at Harvard University but decided to leave to become a full-time writer for the public.
Career as a Writer
De Botton writes both fiction (stories) and non-fiction (books about real-life topics). His goal is often to make big ideas easier for everyone to understand.
Fiction Books
His first novel, Essays in Love (1993), tells the story of what it's like to fall in and out of love. The book was so popular that it was made into a romantic comedy movie called My Last Five Girlfriends in 2010. He later wrote a follow-up book called The Course of Love (2016).
Non-Fiction Books
De Botton is very well known for his non-fiction books, where he explores ideas about life, art, and society.
- How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997): This was his first non-fiction book. It looks at the life and work of the famous writer Marcel Proust and was a bestseller in the U.S. and the UK.
- The Consolations of Philosophy (2000): In this book, de Botton shows how the ideas of great thinkers like Socrates, Epicurus, and Seneca can help with modern problems like sadness, frustration, and anxiety.
- Status Anxiety (2004): This book explores why people worry so much about what others think of them and their social position.
- The Architecture of Happiness (2006): De Botton discusses how buildings and design can affect our mood and happiness. He argues that beautiful architecture can make our lives better.
- The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009): For this book, he studied ten different jobs, from making biscuits to rocket science, to show the interesting and sometimes difficult parts of modern work.
- Religion for Atheists (2012): This book explores what people who don't believe in God can learn from religions. De Botton suggests that religions have useful ideas about community, kindness, and tradition.
- The News: A User's Manual (2014): Here, he looks at how the news affects us and how we can understand it better.
Other Projects
Besides writing, Alain de Botton is involved in many other interesting projects.
Lectures and TV Shows
De Botton travels the world to give lectures and talks. He has spoken at famous TED conferences about his ideas on success, failure, and modern life. He also has his own production company that creates TV documentaries based on his books, such as Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness and The Art of Travel.
The School of Life
In 2008, de Botton co-founded The School of Life. It's an organization with locations all over the world, including London, Paris, and Melbourne. The School of Life offers classes and workshops that teach emotional intelligence. It helps people understand themselves better, improve their relationships, and find satisfying work.
Living Architecture
In 2009, de Botton started a project called "Living Architecture." This company builds unique, modern houses in the UK that people can rent for holidays. The houses are designed by famous architects. The goal is to help more people appreciate good modern architecture.
Personal Life
Alain de Botton married his wife, Charlotte, in 2003. They live in London with their two sons.
In 2014, he was one of 200 famous people who signed a letter published in The Guardian newspaper. The letter expressed support for Scotland remaining part of the United Kingdom during the Scottish independence referendum.
See also
In Spanish: Alain de Botton para niños
