René Cheruy (1880-1965) was a soldier, educator and artist who served as a secretary to French sculptor

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

, was a professor of French language and literature, was decorated by the French and British governments receiving the Croix de Guerre and the British Silver Military Medal for bravery in the field and was decorated with the Cross of the French

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

by French President

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

for his service to the French government during and after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Noted Educator Succumbs at 84, Arizona Daily Star, May 27, 1965 He was married to costume designer, artist and educator Germaine Cheruy and lived in the Art Colony of old Fort Lowell.

Life

René Cheruy was born in Charleville, France in 1880. He attended the Sorbonne in Paris and worked as secretary to

from 1902 until 1908.Rene Cheruy of Windsor, Rodin's Secretary, Tells of Life With Famous Sculptor, Hartford Courant, March 21, 1926 The details of his work with Rodin was published in the

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

in 1926. His time with Rodin brought him into close contact with the art world of Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1909 Cheruy moved to the United States as a teacher of French language and literature. He returned to France at the outbreak of World War I and spent four years with British forces in France as an interpreter. He was decorated by the French and British Governments, receiving numerous medals. At the end of the war, Cheruy returned to the United States and for many years was head of the Department of French at the Loomis Preparatory School in Windsor, Connecticut. In the 1920s he showed water colors and woodcuts with the Ferargil Gallery in New York. In 1924 he returned to France and married Germaine Cheruy He was a founder of Le Salon Francais of Tucson and at the time of his death vice president of that organization. He wrote numerous articles on art and related subjects and was preparing his memoirs, in which he planned to discuss his time with Rodin. Cheruy died in Tucson on May 26, 1965.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheruy, Rene 1880 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American artists Artists from Paris Artists from Hartford, Connecticut Artists from Tucson, Arizona 20th-century American printmakers Educators from Hartford, Connecticut