يعتبره العالم "أب الأسرة الرهبانية" ومؤسس الحركة الرهبانية في العالم كله بالرغم من وجود حركات رهبانية سابقة له. وُلد القديس في بلدة قمن العروس التابعة لبني سويف حوالي عام 251 م من والدين غنيين. مات والده فوقف أمام الجثمان يتأمل زوال هذا العالم، فالتهب قلبه نحو الأبدية

Anthony the Great or Antony the Great (c. 251–356), (Coptic ,lso known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius (Ἀββᾶς Ἀντώνιος), and Father of All Monks, was a Christiansaint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers. He is celebrated in many churches on his feast days: 30 January in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church; 17 January in the Roman Catholic Church and the Coptic Catholic Church.
The biography of Anthony's life by Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through Latin translations. He is often erroneously considered the first monk, but as his biography and other sources make clear, there were many ascetics before him. Anthony was, however, the first known ascetic going into the wilderness, a geographical shift that seems to have contributed to his renown.[4]
Anthony is appealed to against infectious diseases, particularly skin diseases. "Saint Anthony's fire" has described different afflictions including ergotism, erysipelas and shingles
Most of what is known about the life of Anthony comes from the Life of Anthony. Written in Greek around 360 by Athanasius of Alexandria. It depicts Anthony as an illiterate and holy man who through his existence in a primordial landscape has an absolute connection to the divine truth, which always is synonymous with that of Athanasius as the biographer.[4] Sometime before 374, it was translated into Latin by Evagrius of Antioch. The Latin translation helped the Life become one of the best known works of literature in the Christian world, a status it would hold through the Middle Ages.[5] In addition to the Life, several surviving homilies and epistles of varying authenticity provide some additional autobiographical detail.
Anthony was born in Cooma near Herakleopolis Magna in Lower Egypt in 251 to wealthy landowner parents. When he was about 18 years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister.
There are various legends associating him with pigs: one is that for a time he worked as a swineherd