Anthony the Great, Also known as Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Hermit, or Anthony of the Desert, is a monk considered the father of Christian monasticism. His life is known to us through the account of his life by Athanasius of Alexandria around 360.

He would have been born around 251 and died around 356 at the age of 105, in the arms of his two disciples, Macaronius the Elder or Macaronius of Egypt and Amathas. He is celebrated under the name of Saint Anthony on January 17 by Catholics and Orthodox, and on the 30th of the ordinary calendar by the Orthodox Old Calendarists.

Born in Egypt at Herakleopolis Magna (today Qeman, Fayyum) into a fairly wealthy family of fervent Egyptian Christian1 farmers, Anthony was orphaned at the age of eighteen with a younger sister to raise. Having land to cultivate, he takes the Gospel to the letter (Mt 19:21), at the age of twenty, and distributes all his goods to the poor, after having installed his sister according to his vows in a female community as a "consecrated virgin ", then he begins his life as an anchorite in an isolated place near one of his fields.

Dressed in a horsehair haire, he divides his time between prayer and works near the hut of an old ascetic who introduces him to the eremitical life. He decides to strengthen his retreat by going to live for 13 years in the desert, founding the community of Kellia (living in huts, caves or small hermitages, he celebrates with his community the synaxis on Saturdays) with his disciple Ammonas, who had previously settled in Nitria.

The influx of many disciples disturbed his isolation, and in 285 he left to live as a hermit in Pispir, in the middle of the desert, in an abandoned Roman fort on the Red Sea road, imitating the many anchorites who lived in poverty and chastity around the towns. There, in the manner of Christ, he suffered the temptations of the Devil, which lasted longer and during which various demons tried to attack his life. Anthony resisted everything, not allowing himself to be distracted by the fantastical visions that had multiplied.

Little by little, around Anthony the Great, began to gather disciples who came to follow his teaching. Living nearby in caves, they listened to him preach and joined him in prayer. Over the years, they gather into different groups of disciples, electing an elder to lead them and all choose Anthony as their spiritual guide. They are west and east of the Nile. In 307 Hilarion of Gaza asked for advice on how to organize a monastery in the present Gaza region, which is considered one of the first monasteries in Christendom.

In 312, Antony moves further away to isolate himself. He goes to Thebaid, on Mount Qolzum (where the monastery of St. Anthony is today). The Devil still appears to him from time to time, but no longer torments him as he once did. Worshipped by many visitors, Anthony always gives them advice of wisdom, inviting them to prayer rather than violence.

Religious who have adopted St Anthony's solitary way of life are called anchorites, as opposed to cenobites who choose to live in monastic communities.