Thomas Merton Biography and Works.

Thomas Merton was born on January 31, 1915 in Prades, Pyrénées Orientales, France, to Owen Merton, a New Zealand painter, active in Europe and the United States, and Ruth Jenkins, an American Quaker and artist.

He was basically an Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, he was a poet, a social activist and a student of comparative religion. He came to be known as Father Louis after he was ordained to the priesthood in 1949.

Thomas Merton wrote over 70 books, mostly on social justice spirituality, and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. His best-selling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, sent scores of disillusioned World War II veterans, students, and even teenagers assembling at monasteries across the United States.

His autobiography was also featured in National Review’s list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the century.

Merton was a keen proponent of interfaith understanding. He pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Japanese writer, DT Suzuki, the Dalai Lama and the Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh.

He was baptised in the Church of England, in accordance with his father’s wishes. However, his father was often absent during Merton’s upbringing.

Merton died in an accident on December 10, 1968, when he reached out to an electric fan while taking bath and was accidently electrocuted.

Trivia

Merton’s influence has grown since his death and he is widely recognized as an important 20th-century Catholic mystic and thinker.