Evelyn Underhill

Biography

Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer, pacifist, and one of the most widely read writers on Christian mysticism in the English language. Her major work, Mysticism (1911), was the first comprehensive English-language study of the subject and remained the standard reference for decades. Underhill wrote over thirty books on spirituality and religion, and was the first woman to lecture to the clergy of the Church of England and to lead retreats. Her Practical Mysticism (1914) was written to make mystical experience accessible to ordinary people, arguing that mystical awareness is available to everyone, not just saints.