Joseph Campbell, 1904-1987, is well known for his studies of mythology and the meaning of those myths.  He wrote several books on the subject.  His philosophy of life is summed up in the phrase he coined: "Follow Your Bliss".  
    Campbell was born in New York to a Catholic family.  While a child, he developed a fascination for Native American culture.  After a while, his studies of Native American culture focused on mythology.  He attended The University of Paris and the University of Munich where he quickly learned to speak fluent French an German in a few months.  He was influenced by the American writers and philosophers living in Europe known as the Lost Generation.  He was also introduced to the writer Thomas Mann who was an influence on him as well.  While in Europe, he also met and became lifelong friends with Jiddu Krishnamurti, the Hindu writer and philosopher on spiritual subjects.
    When he returned to the United States in 1929, he informed his faculty advisers at Columbia that he wanted to Sanskrit and modern art in addition to Medieval literature.  His advisers dis not approve, so he quit working on his doctorate and never completed it.  He spent the next five years in intensive independent study.  He spent a good amount of time studying Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.
    In 1934 he was offered, and accepted, a position as a professor at Sarah Lawrence College where he remained until 1972.

His writing include:

The Hero with a Thousand Faces -  the cycle of the journey of the hero, an idea which he directly attributes to Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

The Masks of God - A history of mythology from around the world

The Historical Atlas of World Mythology - This series was to build on Campbell’s idea, first presented in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, that myth evolves over time through four stages.  He was still working on it when he died.

He is also well known for the PBS series he did with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth.

    Campbell believed that spirituality is the search for that unknown force from which everything and everyone came.  He felt that force cannot be known so has to be hinted at through metaphor and allegory and that is why all the major religions have a lot of metaphor and allegory in their teaching which Campbell felt were describing common universal truths.

    George Lucas credits Campbell's writings with many of the ideas in the Star Wars movies.  Other movie makers and writers of novels have been influenced by Campbell.

    In 1991, Campbell's widow, Jean Erdman,  worked with Campbell's friend and editor, Robert Walter, to start the Joseph Campbell Foundation.

Several years ago Joseph Campbell was selected to receive the special honor called "Enshrinement" by the International Community of Christ.