Thomas à Kempis

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; German: Thomas von Kempen; Dutch: Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the most popular and best known Christian devotional books. His name means "Thomas of Kempen", Kempen being his home town. While the form Thomas à Kempis (with a faux-French accent on the à) is often found, it is actually incorrect. The correct Latin should be Thomas a Kempis (…from Kempen), as borne out by surviving contemporary mentions of his name.