Thomas Merton (1915–1968)

Trappist monk, author of The Seven Storey Mountain. Thomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, Catholic priest, theologian, mystic, poet, and writer. He was a professed member of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.