17 Facts About Peter Maurin

Peter Maurin was a French Catholic social activist, theologian, and De La Salle Brother who founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 with Dorothy Day.

Peter Maurin was born Pierre Joseph Orestide Maurin into a poor farming family in the village of Oultet in the Languedoc region of southern France, where he was one of 24 children.

Peter Maurin briefly moved to Saskatchewan to try his hand at homesteading, but was discouraged both by the death of his partner in a hunting accident and by the harsh conditions and rugged individualism that characterized his years of residence in the region.

Peter Maurin then traveled throughout the American east for a few years, and eventually settled in New York.

Peter Maurin had given everything he had and he asked for nothing, least of all for success.

Peter Maurin ceased charging for his lessons and asked only that students give any sum they thought appropriate.

Peter Maurin came back to her New York apartment to find Maurin awaiting her in the kitchen.

For four months after their first meeting, Peter Maurin "indoctrinated" her, sharing ideas, synopses of books and articles, and analyzing all facets of daily life through the lens of his intellectual system.

Peter Maurin suggested she start a newspaper, since she was a trained journalist, to "bring the best of Catholic thought to the man in the street in the language of the man in the street".

Peter Maurin initially proposed the name Catholic Radical for the paper that was distributed as the Catholic Worker beginning May 1,1933, during the depths of the Great Depression.

Peter Maurin's ideas served as the inspiration for the creation of "houses of hospitality" for the poor, for the agrarian endeavors of the Catholic Worker farms, and the regular "roundtable discussions for the clarification of thought" that began taking place shortly after the publication of the first issue of The Catholic Worker which is considered a Christian Anarchist publication.

Peter Maurin lived in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he worked on the first Catholic Worker-owned farming commune, Maryfarm.

Peter Maurin took part in the Catholic Worker picketing of the Mexican and German consulates during the 1930s.

Peter Maurin traveled extensively, lecturing at parishes, colleges, and meetings across the country, often in coordination with the speaking tours of Dorothy Day.

Peter Maurin addressed venues as varied as Harvard students and small parishes, the Knights of Columbus and gatherings of bishops and priests.

Peter Maurin saw similarities between his approach and what he viewed was that of the Irish monks who evangelized medieval Europe.

Peter Maurin was played by Martin Sheen in Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story.