Timeline of the Life of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
1881 May 1 Born at Sarcenat, the family estate in Orcines, close to
Clermont-Ferrand, France
1899 March 20 Enters Jesuit noviciate - Aix-en-Provence
1902 October First year as a scholastic -Jersey
October Geological field trip in Jersey
1905 August Leaves for Egypt for required three years teaching in Jesuit
college, Cairo
1909 October First year of theology - Hastings
October Geological field trip with Pere Pellotier - The Weald; Jersey
1911 August 24 Ordained priest - Hastings
1912 October Begins course under Marcellin Boule at the Museum of Natural
History, Paris
October Studies phosphorites in Quercy
1914 July Field trip with Jean Boussac- Alpes du Dauphine
August Begins tertianship - Canterbury
December Called up for service with medical corps - Clermont
1915 January Stretcher-bearer in the 8th Moroccan Light Infantry
May Ypres Sector
June Transfers
to 4th combined regiment of Zouaves and Light
Infantry
August Arras District
August 29 Mentioned in divisional orders
September 1 Croix de Guerre
1916 January In billets behind the line - Nieuport-Ville
March 24 From this date onwards drafts numberous writings
April 24 Finishes La vie cosmique - Dunkirk sector
1919 July Passes certificate in geology, Paris
1920 March Passes certificate in zoology,Paris
June Preparation of
doctoral thesis in geology at the Institut
Catholique
July Excavations near Rheims in connection with thesis -Rheims
1922 March 22 Oral examination for doctoral thesis
March 22 Assistant Professor of Geology
1923 April 6 To China via Suez, Ceylon, Sumatra, Hong Kong, Shanghai
May Joins Pere Emile Licent, S.J. - Tientsin
June First field trip with Licent - Ordos
August 6 Writes Mass on the World in the Ordos Desert
1924 April Field trip with Pere Licent - Eastern Mongolia
August Joins Professor George Barbour - Kalgan
September Returns to France by sea - Shanghai
October Resumes courses at Institut Catholique, Paris
October Gives retreats for students of Grandes Ecoles
1926 April Leaves for China with Pere Licent and Pere Lejay
November Drafts treatise on spirituality - Tientsin
December Visited by Professor Alfred Lacroix of the Museum of
Natural
History - Peking
1927 May-July Field trip with Licent - Dalai-Nor (Tari N.)
1929 February Return to China via Jibuti and Ceylon
April Accepts post as
scientific adviser to Peking Geological Service.
Lives with Lazarist Fathers. Works with Dr.
Davidson Black and Dr. Wong Wen Hao at Chou-Kou-Tien
December 2 Pei-Wen-Chung, Director of Excavations at Chou-Kou-Tien,
discovers the first Sinanthropus skull
Chou-Kou-Tien (with C.C. Young)
1930 February Trip with Barbour - Shensi, Shansi
May Joins Chapman Andrews expedition - Mongolia, Gobi Desert
1931 January Trip to USA to make arrangements for Citroen expedition -
New York, Chicago
February Return to China via Hawaii and Japan from San Francisco
May 8 Joins expedition - Kalgan, Gobi Desert
1932 January 1 With the Divine Word Fathers - Liangchow (Kansu)
September Return to France for four months - Paris
1933 February Leaves for fifth journey to China
July Trip to USA via Pacific route - San Francisco, Washington, New York
July Attends International Congress of Geology in Washington
1934 May Yangtze Expedition, and trip to Central Asia with Barbour
-
Yangtze, Hunan, Tsinling Mts.
1935 May Return to France - Paris
September Departure for India to join Helmut de Terra - Red
Sea,
Kashmir
December To Java at invitation of Von Koenigswald -Batavia, Bandung,
Sangiran
1936 January Return to China via Hong Kong and Shanghai - Peking
1937 February Trip to USA across Pacific via Honolulu - Philadelphia
April Return to France via Atlantic route -New York
August 6 Leaves for China from Marseilles on board
the
D'Artagnan
December To Burma to join Helmut de Terra - Rangoon
1938 March Arrival in Java with Helmut de Terra; stays with Von
Koenigswald - Batavia, Bandung, Surakarta, Trinil, La Solo
May Return to China - Peking
June Begins The Phenomenon of Man
September Leaves for USA via Pacific route - Vancouver, New York
November Returns to France via Atlantic route
1939 June Return to China via USA
August 30 Arrival in China where he stays until 1946 - Peking
1940 May Sets up Institute of Geobiology with Pere Pierre Leroy, S.J.
June Finishes The Phenomenon of Man
June Publishes several papers on Chou-Kou-Tien
1941 March 3 Lectures at French Embassy on 'The Future of Man as seen by
a Paleontologist'
1942 November Exposition of law of complexity - consciousness
1943 Founds journal Geobiologia - Peking
1946 May In France. Various activities, including lectures - Paris
1947 June 1 Heart attack - Paris
1948 March Sixth trip to USA - New York
June Return to France - Paris
August Stays with his brother, Joseph at Les Moulins
October Seeks ecclesiastical approval for
publication of The
Phenomenon of Man and for appointment to Chair at
College de France - Rome
November Return to France after negative response to both requests
-
Paris
1949 February Lectures at Sorbonne on Groupe Zoologique humain - Paris
October Attends International Congress on Philosophy of Science – Paris
1951 July Leaves for South Africa. Breaks journey in England,
joins
Barbour. Barbour flies to South Africa, Teilhard sails
from Southampton - London
August 28 Visits sites of Australopithecus, finds with Barbour
and van
Riet Lowe - Johannesburg, Pretoria, Kimberley,
Dry Harts Valley
October Visits Hopefield site with Dr. J. Goodwin - Cape Town
November Return to USA via Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro - New York
December Accepts research post with Wenner Gren Foundation
offered
by Dr. Paul Fejos
1952 July Trip across USA - Chicago
1953 July Second South African trip
1954 June In France - Paris
June Lecture on Africa and origins of man -Paris
July Visits Lascaux with Pere Leroy. Last visit to birthplace
August Return to USA - New York
1955 April 10 Dies on Easter Day