Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon was a Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic churchs relationship with Islam. He focused increasingly on the work of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he considered a saint. He was also influential, among Catholics, for Islam being accepted as an Abrahamic Faith. Some scholars maintain that his research, esteem for Islam and Muslims, and cultivation of key students in Islamic studies largely prepared the way for the positive vision of Islam articulated in the Lumen gentium and the Nostra aetate at the Second Vatican Council. Although a Catholic himself, he tried to understand Islam from within and thus had a great influence on the way Islam was seen in the West among other things, he paved the way for a greater openness inside the Catholic Church towards Islam as it was documented in the pastoral Vatican160II declaration Nostra aetate.
Louis Massignon was born in NogentsurMarne, ValdeMarne, near Paris, France. His father, Fernand Massignon , a painter and a sculptor under the pseudonym Pierre Roche, was an intimate friend of novelist JorisKarl Huysmans. Huysmans own conversion to Roman Catholicism was one of the first major inspirations of the young Louis in a friendly tutorial relationship that lasted from 1901 till Huysmans death in 1907.
Source: Wikipedia