Thomas Merton

A monk and a prominent writer, Thomas Merton, b. Prades, France, Jan. 31, 1915, d. Dec. 10, 1968, became one of the most famous American Roman Catholics of the 20th century. As a young man Merton traveled with his artist parents (his father was a New Zealander, his mother an American) in France and studied briefly at Cambridge University, England, before he went to the United States and earned (1939) a master's degree from Columbia University. During those years he gradually changed from an agnostic to a devout Roman Catholic.

After teaching English for a while and working in a Harlem settlement house, Merton decided (1941) to become a monk, choosing the Trappist order for its discipline of silence and solitude. Within the monastery he served for years as master of students and novices. Outside it, his writing, which included poetry, meditations, and works of social criticism, brought him prominence in American letters.

His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), became a bestseller. Merton's social criticisms burned deeply into public awareness of racism, economic injustice, and militarism. He was a vocal and controversial critic of the War in Vietnam.

Seeing parallels between Oriental mysticism and Western tradition, Merton gained permission to attend an ecumenical conference of Buddhist and Christian monks held in Bangkok, Thailand. While attending that meeting, he was accidentally electrocuted.