Matta El Meskeen was an Egyptian Coptic Orthodox monk and prolific theologian who lived from 1919 to 2006. Born Youssef Iskandar, he abandoned a successful career in pharmacy to pursue a monastic life in 1948. He is most famously recognized for revitalizing Coptic monasticism at the Monastery of St. Macarius, where he helped grow the community from a few elderly residents to over one hundred monks. Throughout his life, he served as a spiritual guide to several important figures and authored over one hundred eighty books covering biblical and theological subjects.