Kempis, Thomas a

Thomas a (1379-1471), a German monk. He was born in the village of Kempen in the diocese of Cologne. In 1400 he entered an Augustinian convent. He became a monk in 1406. He spent his entire life in seclusion. He is noted as the author of a book of private meditations entitled The Imitation or Following of Christ. It was written, as all books of that day were, in the Latin language. In his history of Latin Christianity Dean Milman says, "in it is gathered and concentrated all that is elevating, passionate, profoundly pious in all the older mystics. No book after the Holy Scriptures has been so often reprinted; none translated into so many languages, ancient and modern." The first printed edition appeared in Augsburg in 1486. A collection preserved at Cologne, near the place of his birth, includes over 500 separate editions.