Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton (1915–1968) was an American Trappist monk, theologian, mystic, poet, and social activist. He lived at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky and was a prolific writer on spiritual and social themes, influencing 20th-century Catholicism and beyond. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, is a seminal work that has sold over one million copies and been translated into more than fifteen languages.