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Biography
Pierre de Chaignon la Rose was born on April 23, 1871, in New York City, New York. His father was an A. F. de Chaignon la Rose, and his mother Katharine Kappus von Pichlstein. It was rumored by some at Harvard, however, that the French surname was merely a pretense, and that his name was originally Peter Ross.
La Rose studied at Philips Exeter Academy and subsequently Harvard University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1895. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, supposedly "without ever taking a single lecture-note". He also served as editor of the Harvard Monthly and was a member of Hasty Pudding and Signet. His roommate at Harvard was Daniel Gregory Mason, who described him in the following terms:
Of all my friends he had the surest nose for the best, whether in letters, music, the graphic arts, or the more general arts of life ... His style in college essays and stories was fairly Jamesian. He could draw exquisite book-plates. As for his piano-playing, I can see him yet at our upright, stocky but erect in shirt-sleeves and red hair ...
He taught at Harvard in the English department for seven years following his graduation, resigning his teaching post in 1902. By 1915, La Rose would describe his occupation as a "man of letters", busying himself with critical literary work and graphic design while making trips to Europe, Mexico, and Turkey.[1]
A fervent Catholic, La Rose was an expert on ecclesiastical heraldry and designed the coats of arms of many American Catholic prelates. He also designed arms for institutions both Catholic and secular, including The Catholic University of America, Saint Anselm College, and Rice University. For example, he designed the seals of all the graduate schools at Harvard University and served on its Committee on Arms, Seal, and Diplomas, while also designing armorial bearings for Princeton, Yale, and Radcliffe College. He also designed the flag of the Episcopal Church between 1937 and 1940.
He was a friend of historian George Santayana.
A 1941 recollection of him in the Harvard Crimson noted his dignified presence on campus in his later years, but also his isolation and loneliness; La Rose never married. He died on February 21, 1941, at Wyman Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 2006, The American Heraldry Society established the Design Award in his memory.
La Rose designed the armorial bearings for the following persons and institutions:
The Catholic University of America
Harvard University's Graduate Schools
Lancaster Catholic High School
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans
Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchez
Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Augustine
Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud
Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo
Saint Anselm Abbey Shield, which is also a part of the modern day seal of Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire.
Coat of arms of the University of Notre Dame
