Monk (98) who lived alone in a French cave for half a century, died | Abroad

Louis Chauvel, alias Frère Antoine, was born in 1923 and has lived in the cave since 1966. The man had withdrawn from the world after being sent to the military prison for a transcription error in his documents. “I had a twisted mind and was looking for a place as twisted as I am,” he explained.

The Cistercian spent his days praying, meditating and writing. The hermit was not negative towards visitors, but as a sign clearly indicated: “The cave of Antoine is not a tourist curiosity, but a place of fraternal meeting”. He spoke to the walkers of philosophy and spirituality.

After a heavy fall in October 2017, he had no choice but to leave his cave. After having first been accommodated in a retirement home, he has been hosted in the commune of Dieulefit in Drôme since 2020. There, he stayed with a traveling companion with whom he had gone to India 20 years ago. According to a friend, the monk Antoine wanted “to die with the feeling that he had nothing more to do on earth”.

He was “an example of love, simplicity and generosity”.

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