Jacques Maritain (18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French
Catholic philosopher. Raised as a
Protestant, he became an agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St.
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. 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.