Constantin Kluge was born in Riga on January 29, 1912, the son of Constantin
Kluge, a member of the Russian Army General Staff, and his wife, the former
Miss Ignatieva. White sympathizers in the Russian Civil War, the family
fled the approaching Bolsheviks and emigrated to Manchuria in the winter
of 1919-1920. Kluge began drawing as a student in Shanghai and set off
for Paris in June 1931. He studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
from 1933 until 1937, receiving his diploma in November of that year. Before
returning to Shanghai in 1938, Kluge began painting portraits and cityscapes
in Paris. It was in Shanghai, 1942, that Kluge met Pierre Leroy while attending
one of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's lectures. In the spring of 1943, Kluge
was invited to paint the portraits of the Vichy Ambassador to China and
his wife, during which time he and Teilhard became friends. He and Teilhard
also shared a mutual friend, Mrs. Claude Riviere, head of the French radio
station in Shanghai. Kluge and his family moved to Hong Kong in 1946 and
returned to France in 1950. In 1961, he received the Silver Medal of the
Salon des Artistes Francais and was awarded their Gold Medal the following
year. Kluge obtained French citizenship in 1964 and continues to reside
in France. For complete information on the life of Constantin Kluge, refer
to his autobiography, "Constantin Kluge" (Paris, 1987), a copy of which
he has very generously presented to Georgetown University Library.
Pierre Leroy was a biologist and priest of the Society of Jesus. He
was born in La Madelaine in northern France, on August 24, 1900, the son
of Paul Leroy, a textile merchant, and of Elisabeth Wacrenier de Billaux.
He was educated at the College des Jesuites de Lille and the Faculte des
Sciences de Nancy, and held a doctorate in sciences. He was assistant director
(1930-1931) and then director (1938) of the Museum of Natural History in
Tientsin, China. From 1940 to 1946 he was director of the Geobiological
Institute in Peking which he helped found with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
Upon his return to France in 1946, Fr. Leroy was admitted as a member of
the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in which capacity
he also served as researcher for the College de France until 1970. From
1950 to 1951 Fr. Leroy researched the physiological effects of cortisone
at the University of Chicago. Back in France, Fr. Leroy served as director
of the laboratory at Gif-sur-Yvette until he retired in 1971 to the Lycee
Prive Sainte Genevieve at Versailles where he resided until his death on
May 23, 1992. During his later years, Fr. Leroy continued to lecture in
Europe and the United States. He was decorated by the French government
as chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and in both 1954 and 1958, he was
French delegate at UNESCO. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences in
New York from 1960 until 1962.
This collection is part of a growing body of material, at Georgetown
University Library, by and about the great paleontologist and theologian
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and his circle. Researchers are encouraged to
consult the following special collections:
The Granger - Teilhard de Chardin Collection
The Pierre Leroy, S.J., Papers
The Lukas - Teilhard de Chardin Collection
The Raphael - Teilhard de Chardin Collection
The Robert T. Francoeur Papers
The Warre - Pierre Leroy Collection
Abbreviations used: ACS = autograph card signed; and ALS = autograph
letter signed.
Span dates 1976-1993
Extent: 0.25 linear feet, 1 box
Provenance: Gift of Constantin Kluge, 1993
Processed by Lisette C. Matano, March and August 1993
Biographical sketch of Constantin Kluge written by Nicole Wallace.
ACCESSION DATA: Gift of Constantin Kluge, 1993
BULK DATES: 1976 - 1993
SPAN DATES: 1976 - 1993
EXTENT: 1 box