Derwas J. Chittywas an Anglican priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

, who throughout his tenure, notably as Rector of Upton Parva near Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 showed great familiarity with the spirituality of the Greek Orthodox tradition.

With childhood experience of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, he was married to the writer Mary Chitty (Kitson Clark).

He published a large number of articles and works on early eastern monasticism, including his magnum opus, The Desert a City.

He was a member of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius

Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius

The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius is a religious organization founded in 1928 to facilitate contact between Eastern and Western Christians, specifically Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Christians. It is named for Saint Alban, the protomartyr of England, and Saint Sergius of Radonezh, an...

.

Works

• The Desert a City: a Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism under the Christian Empire, 1966.