June 13, 1884–September 19, 1978

Étienne Gilson was one of the premier Catholic intellectuals of the twentieth century.

Over the course of his career, he founded the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, was elected to the Académie française, and wrote a staggering one hundred and seventy-plus books.

Gilson’s particular interest was for the historical dimension of philosophy. Those who take philosophy seriously, he wrote, must have some knowledge of its history, “because philosophy is actually a continuous chain of philosophers who have conducted in the West, for twenty-five centuries, a sort of conversation on the ultimate problems the human mind can ask…”