Jacques Maritain

Jacques Maritain was born in Paris in 1882 to a liberal Protestant family. At the University of Paris, he studied the natural sciences and met his wife, Raïssa. In 1906, the couple converted to the Roman Catholic faith. After reading the writings of St. Thomas of Aquinas, Maritain began to develop his own philosophy. Maritain went on to work as a professor at Columbia, Princeton, University of Chicago, and Notre Dame, while he was also widely published in French and English, authoring over 60 books on philosophy and metaphysics. Additionally, Maritain served as the French ambassador to the Vatican from 1945-1948, and was close friends with Pope Paul VI.