 | Nikolai Konstantinovich ROERICH 1874 — 1947Миколай Костянтинович РЕРІХ • Николай Константинович РЕРИХNicholas Roerich was born in St. Petersburg in 1874. A Russian painter and spiritual teacher. He was the father of Tibetologist George Roerich (a.k.a. Yuri Roerich) and artist Svetoslav Roerich. Nicholas and his wife Helena Roerich were co-founders of the theosophical Agni Yoga Society. Roerich`s stage-designs for the premiere of Igor Stravinsky`s The Rite of Spring, given in Paris in 1913, and based on ancient Russian motifs, were highly innovative and influential. He first visited New York City in 1920. After touring the United States, he and his wife settled in the city, founding the Master Institute of the United Arts. After leaving New York, the Roerichs went on the five-years long expedition to India, China, Tibet, Mongolia, with a detour through Siberia to Moscow in 1926. In 1928, they settled in India, where they founded a research center, the Himalayan Research Institute. In 1929 Nicholas Roerich was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the University of Paris. (He received a second nomination in 1935.) His concern for peace led to his creation of the Pax Cultura, the "Red Cross" of art and culture. His work in this area also led the United States and the twenty other members of the Pan-American Union to sign the Roerich Pact on April 15, 1935 at the White House. The Roerich Pact is an early international instrument protecting cultural property. Roerich died in India in 1947. |
