Michael Baigent

Michael Baigent (born Michael Barry Meehan, 27 February 1948 – 17 June 2013) was a New Zealand writer who published a number of popular works questioning traditional perceptions of history and the life of Jesus. He is known best as a co-author of the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Baigent was born on 27 February 1948 in Nelson, New Zealand and spent his childhood in the nearby communities of Motueka and Wakefield. His father was a devout Roman Catholic, and he was tutored in Catholic theology from the age of five. After his father left the family when Baigent was eight years old, he went to live with his maternal grandfather, Lewis Baigent, and adopted his surname. His great-grandfather, Henry Baigent served as a Nelson city mayor and had founded a forestry business, H. Baigent and Sons.

His secondary schooling was at Nelson College, and then he attended the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, initially intending to study science and continue in the family career of forestry, but switched to studying comparative religion and philosophy.After graduating in 1972, Baigent made extensive travels to different countries, as a freelancer. He did stints as a war-photographer in Laos and as a fashion-photographer in Spain, before arriving at England in 1976. While working for the BBC photographic department and doing night shifts for a soft-drinks factory, he met Richard Leigh via a television producer who was producing a series on the Knights Templar. Leigh was to be his frequent co-author during his entire professional life. The two joined Henry Lincoln in researching the alleged mystery of Rennes-le-Château in France, the details of which were revealed in the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.In 2000, Baigent also earned an Master of Arts degree for the study of Mysticism and Religious Experience at the University of Kent. A Freemason and a Grand Officer (2005) of the United Grand Lodge of England, he was an editor of Freemasonry Today from Spring, 2001 to Summer, 2011 and advocated for a more liberal style for Freemasonry.