Jacques Maritain

French philosopher

Date of Birth	:	18 November, 1882
Date of Death	:	28 April, 1973 (Aged 90)
Place of Birth	:	Paris, France
Profession	:	French Philosopher
Nationality	:	French

Jacques Maritain (জ্যাক ম্যারিটাইন) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas for modern times, and was influential in the development and drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pope Paul VI presented his "Message to Men of Thought and of Science" at the close of Vatican II to Maritain, his long time friend and mentor. The same pope had seriously considered making him a lay cardinal, but Maritain rejected it. Maritain's interest and works spanned many aspects of philosophy, including aesthetics, political theory, philosophy of science, metaphysics, the nature of education, liturgy and ecclesiology.

Biography

Jacques Maritain was a French philosopher born in Paris into a Protestant family. He studied natural sciences at the Sorbonne, where he met and married Raïssa Oumançoff, a Russian Jewish émigré. Together, they questioned the limits of scientism and, influenced by Henri Bergson and Léon Bloy, converted to Catholicism in 1906. Maritain later became deeply influenced by Thomas Aquinas, shaping his lifelong philosophical approach.

He taught at various institutions, including the Collège Stanislas and the Institut Catholique de Paris, and later lectured in North America at the University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, and Columbia University. From 1945 to 1948, he served as French ambassador to the Holy See. After the death of his wife in 1960, he published Raïssa’s Journal and later joined the Little Brothers of Jesus in Toulouse, France, living a simple, monastic life. Maritain’s work had a lasting impact on Catholic thought, philosophy, and cultural freedom movements.

Quotes

Total 0 Quotes

Quotes not found.