Alain Botton is a Swiss-born British Philosopher and author.
Background
Alain Botton was born on December 20, 1969 in Zurich, Switzerland, in the family of Gilbert and Jacqueline (Burgauer) De Botton. Gilbert went to live and work in Switzerland, where he co-founded an investment firm, Global Asset Management; his family was estimated to have been worth £234 million in 1999. Alain de Botton's Swiss-born mother was Ashkenazi, and his father was from a Sephardic Jewish family from the town of Boton in Castile and León.
De Botton's ancestors include Abraham de Boton. De Botton's paternal grandmother was Yolande Harmer. He has one sister, Miel, and they received a secular upbringing. Alain spent the first twelve years of his life in Switzerland where he was brought up speaking French and German.
Education
Alain was sent to the Dragon School, where English was his primary language. Then he boarded at Harrow School, before going up to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he read History in 1988–1991 and subsequently completed a Master of Philosophy at King's College, London in 1991–1992. He began studying for a Doctor of Philosophy in French philosophy at Harvard University, but gave up this research to write books for the general public.
Career
Alain worked as a television reviewer for New Statesman, and also he was a jpurnalist for Sunday Telegraph. He mostly developes his career as a writer. His first novel "Essays in Love" was written in 1993. In 2010, "Essays in Love" was adapted to film by director Julian Kemp for the romantic comedy "My Last Five Girlfriends." De Botton wrote a sequel to "Essays in Love", published in 2016, titled "The Course of Love." In 1997 he published his first non-fiction book, "How Proust Can Change Your Life", based on the life and works of Marcel Proust. This was followed by "The Consolations of Philosophy" in 2000. In 2004, he published "Status Anxiety." In January 2012, de Botton published "Religion for Atheists", about the benefits of religions for those who do not believe in them. In April 2012, he published "How to Think More about Sex", one in a series of six books on topics of emotional life published by his enterprise. In October 2013, he published "Art as Therapy", co-written with the Australian-Scottish art historian, John Armstrong. In February 2014, de Botton published his fourteenth book, a title called "The News: A User's Manual", a study of the effects of the news on modern mentality, viewed through the prism of 25 news stories.
De Botton used to write articles for several English newspapers, and from 1998 to 2000, wrote a regular column for The Independent on Sunday. He has given lectures at TED conferences.
In 2008, Alain de Botton founded The School of Life. Based in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Seoul, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, São Paulo, Berlin, Zurich and Melbourne, The School of Life offers an emotional education focusing in particular on the issues of Work and Relationships.
In May 2009, de Botton launched a project called "Living Architecture" – which builds holiday rental houses in the UK using leading contemporary architects.
Achievements
In Alain's early twenties Alain de Botton became one of the most talked-about young British novelists of the 1990s with his debut. "Essays in Love", which was published in the United States as "On Love."
De Botton wrote about religion: "It's clear to me that religions are in the end too complex, interesting and on occasion wise to be abandoned simply to those who believe in them".
Personality
Alain was described by his ex-girlfriend as a narcissistic person.
Interests
Philosophers & Thinkers
Stendhal, Plato, Goethe, Kant, Mill, Freud
Connections
De Botton lives in London with his wife, Charlotte de Botton, and their two children.
