Louis Pierre Ledoux
{{Short description|American anthropologist}}
{{Orphan|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Louis Pierre Ledoux
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|08|01}}
| birth_place = Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|3|17|1912|08|01}}
| death_place = Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, US
| burial_place =
| nationality =
| occupation = businessman, anthropologist
| alma_mater = Harvard University
| known_for = Studies of the Murik people from the lower eastern Sepik River of Papua New Guinea
| relations =
| spouse = Joan F.
| children =2
}}
Louis Pierre Ledoux (August 1, 1912 – March 17, 2001) was an American anthropologist. He is notable for his New Guinea expedition in early 1936, where he studied the Murik people, who were located the north coast of Papua New Guinea, west of the mouth of the Sepik River.{{Cite web |title=Louis Pierre Ledoux's Papua New Guinea Collection |url=https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/willow-auction-house/louis-pierre-ledoux-s-papua-new-guinea-collection-7667 |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=www.bidsquare.com |language=en}}https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/murik
Early life and education
Louis Pierre Ledoux, one of two children, was born on August 1, 1912, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, the son of Louis Verdon Ledoux, an American poet and author,{{cite web | url=https://centuryarchives.org/caba/bio.php?PersonID=1722 | title=Century Archives – the Century Association Archives Foundation }} and Jean Logan.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/18/classified/paid-notice-deaths-ledoux-louis-pierre.html | title=Paid Notice: Deaths LEDOUX, LOUIS PIERRE | work=The New York Times | date=18 March 2001 }} He had one sister, Renee Ledoux Sands.{{Cite web |date=2018-10-08 |title=Sengen House Archives |url=https://www.ellissothebysrealty.com/blog/tag/sengen-house/ |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=Ellis Sotheby's International Realty |language=en-US}}
He graduated from Gunnery School in Washington, Connecticut, and earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1935. Ledoux was mentored by American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, who guided and advised Ledoux on the conducting anthropological research in New Guinea and what was eventually to be known as the Louis Pierre Ledoux’s Papua New Guinea Collection.{{Cite web |last=willowtwo |title=Louis Pierre Ledoux - 1936 New Guinea Expedition - Willow Auction House |url=https://willowauctionhouse.com/2021/10/03/louis-pierre-ledoux-auction/ |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=willowauctionhouse.com |language=en-US}}
Personal life
Ledoux was married to Joan F. Ledoux with whom he had two children: daughter Jeanne Nicole Ledoux,{{cite web | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/jeanne-nicole-ledoux-obituary?id=24309880 | title=JEANNE-NICOLE LEDOUX Obituary (2013) - Cornwall on Hudson, NY - New York Times | website=Legacy.com }} and son Louis Andre Ledoux.
Career and later life
He was president of the family company, Ledoux and Co., a metallurgical laboratory.
After Ledoux graduated from Harvard University, he sought out guidance from his mentor Margaret Mead, on how to prepare himself on his expedition to New Guinea. Mead who was already familiar with the terrain in New Guinea, and provided Ledoux with her own equipment list in order to help Ledoux on his expedition. Ledoux's expedition in New Guinea lasted a full year (1936–1937). All the research Ledoux conducted in New Guinea was never published. Ledoux returned in 1937 to join the family business and all his research from his expedition, including side notes and comments made by his mentor Margaret Mead, was stored away. It was not until 85 years later, that his collection of artifacts, photographs, field notes, and letters were acquired for auction in 2021.
He died on March 17, 2001, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
References
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Category:American anthropologists
Category:People from Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York
Category:20th-century American businesspeople