Biography

Dominique de Menil, daughter of Conrad and Louise Delpech Schlumberger, was born in Paris on March 23, 1908. She studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of aris, Sorbonne, in 1927 and 1928. In 1931 she married John de Menil.

Escapting Nazi-occupied France in 1941, the de Menils settled in Houston where they raised their five children. Since the fifties Dominique de Menil has been an avid art collector, gathering a major collection of over 10,000 pieces, including major 20th century art of Cubists and Surrealists artists; tribal art; antiquitities; prints and drawings. She organized several major exhibitions at the University of St. Thomas and at Rice University.

In 1971, John and Dominique de Menil founded the Rothko Chapel. Its name cames from the great American painter, Mark Rothko, whom John and Dominique de Menil had commissioned to create a place for worship, open to all religious traditions.

Dominque died on December 31, 1997.

Honors and Awards: * July 1984 - French l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres presented by the French Minister of Culture, Mr. Jack Lang, Paris. * May 1985 - French Legion of Honour, presented by Ambassador Emmanuel de Margerie, French Ambassador, Houston. * July 1986 - Medal of Arts, presented by President Ronald Reagan, Washington, D.C. * May 1990 - Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters given by Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana * March 1992 - The Christian Culture Award Gold Medal given by Assumption University, Windsor, Ontario, Canada * April 1992 - The First Montblanc de la Culture Award given by Montblanc, New York City * May 1992 - Honorary Degree of Doctors of Laws given by Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia * June 1992 - Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters given by Harvard University, cambridge, Massachusetts * June 1992 - Cammandeur des Arts et Lettres presented by Mr. Roland Dumas, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paris * December 1992: The Officer's Cross of the The Order of Leopold I, presented by The Honorable Emile Massa, Consul Generalof Belgium, representing His Majesting the King o fhte Belgians and the Belgian Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Juan Cassiers * October 1993: Recipient of the World Monuments Hadrian Award, New York.