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MAXIMILLIEN de LA CROIX de LAFAYETTE
The man behind the easel.
By Marge Baker
For long time, I have been thinking about
writing a release, a sort of an essay on this fascinating man called de La
Croix, more accurately Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette* (his full
name) but, I was uncertain as to where and how to begin, because of the
complexity of his mind, genius and achievements in so many areas, disciplines,
lines of work and professions. He is so multi-dimensional and extremely
accomplished in so many fields to a point where I had to stop and think for
a while, take a deep breath now and then, and work out a plan of action, a
sort of an in-depth essay about the man, his work
and particularly what he represents to us. My original
interest and reason for doing a piece on de La Croix was specifically to
introduce him as De La Croix “L’Artiste”. But, the more I learned about him,
the more I read about him and the more I read about what he wrote in his own
books (He authored 97 published books, encyclopedias and dictionaries in 7
languages), the more I began to feel his humility, modesty, generosity, the goodness of his
heart, his intoxicating genius...and of course, the more undecided I
became on how to start, approach and finish the article.
MAXIMILLIEN:
THE MAN OF CONTROVERSY, DELIGHTFUL MADNESS AND 1000 SURPRISES
De La
Croix's exhilarating passion to live life and his incredible ability to
astound, amaze, amuse and entertain us are just of the few of the things
that set him apart and make him so unique. "Mad Max" as the media and dearest
friends call him, is the epitome of a spring inside a box, the quintessence of
the Court Jester! As de La Croix himself would say: "Laissez les bon temps
rouler!" {Let the good times roll!} By now, it should not shock or
surprise you to know that as a boy, de La Croix ran away from home to join the
remnant (s) of Cirque Medrano in Paris. Every child’s dream
realized! For three months time, he stayed with the circus and preformed as a
Clown, consequently creating and inciting a wave of scandals in his wake and
causing the expected and appropriate amount of embarrassment to his family,
aristocratic milieu and relatives.
MAXIMILLIEN MADE THE LIST. BUT WHAT LIST?
There was the time when de La Croix was sent as a participant in a Cultural
International Exchange Program to under developed countries, tutoring the
natives of the remote villages in French and other foreign language skills.
As the months passed, funds exhausted, his assignment came to an end.
Curiously, no one was able to communicate with the natives...obviously and
apparently, the program was not the success that they had anticipated...but
why-o-why were the natives not learning??? They would soon find out. Yes, you
guessed it! de La Croix was the source of the mischief...Upon his return to
France, Maximillien found a large sign posted below his name on the door of
his office that read: "DE LA CROIX- - -FIRED!!!" Smugly smiling to himself,
he didn't mind one bit and graciously thanked his superiors for the
experience-speaking now in the native tongue of the country from which he had
just returned-which only served to infuriate them all the more! You see,
rather than teaching foreign languages-as was required of him on his
mission-no matter where he traveled, he learned the natives' languages!
Instead of being "the teacher," de La Croix had became "the student!"
This
is Maximillien’s elaboration on the story:
“The
Department of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs thought that by
teaching the natives in foreign colonies our language and way of life, the
regime would be able to control the colons in the foreign territories and
colonies. So, they hand picked some teachers of sociology, history and
languages in order to send them or probably “shipped them abroad” to do the
job. I was one of those chosen miserable teachers. My role was to teach the
colonials or colons, French and French culture. Perfect! The government had a
limited budget and the government people made it very clear to me that the
government is not rich, they are lacking money…that I should not waste their
time and their money. In brief, teach those people French, as soon as
possible. Great! I left Paris en route to foreign lands. Upon my arrival to
those magnificent lands, I fell in love with the nature, color of the skies
and ocean water…and trees leaves…and the soil…everything. It was magical to
me. And, it did not take me long, before I fell in love with the natives. I
loved those people so much, so much from all my heart and soul, to a point,
where, I had to learn everything about them. Where do I begin? Of course,
being a linguist, I began to learn their own language. So I did. Instead of
teaching them French as I was supposed to or “ maybe” as it was instructed to
do, I spent government time learning their own language. The government was
spending money on the mission and covering the expenses of the expedition to
diffuse the French language worldwide, but in fact, they were spending their
money on me being there, doing nothing, except learning foreign languages and
dialects. So, the beautiful poor natives did not learn a word of French. So,
what do you expect from our bureaucrats and politicians back home to do the
first thing when they saw my ugly face? FIRE THE SON OF A GUN, and they did!
This is exactly what happened. Later, and for years, I was unable to find a
job in the government or even get a small grant for some of my cultural and
artistic projects. And of course, I was placed on the black list of the MOST
UNWANTED PEOPLE. Yes, sir.”
KICKED
OUT OF THE MONASTERY,
PERSONA NON-GRATA
One
of the biggest unfortunate mistakes Maximillien’s parents made, was when they
decided to send him to the Jesuit Seminary School to become a priest! His
uncles on the side of his mother wanted to send him to the most isolated
Hassidic temple in Siberia! Can you
imagine that? Maximillien?! A Priest?!!! A rabbi?? Well, this how the story goes and as
told by “Reverend” Maximillien himself. “There are some traditions and customs
“some” European families observe very diligently. For instance, it is a common
knowledge that “respectable families” in France should “produce” and give to
the country and the society “good children”. And!!!! HA HA!!! Wait a minute…
this is NOT the only criteria and social pre-requisite; some of those children
better be or become a general in the army, a lawyer, a physician, an architect
or a bishop, a prince of the Catholic church! So asking myself “What are my
choices?” I had no idea or any answer to that question. I just wanted to be or
become what I like to be or become. Back then, young and incorrigible, I want
to be nothing and have fun! But, this was not what my parents had in mind. My
parents thought that sending me to a seminary was a very good idea. Boy-ya-boy!
What a very bad idea this was! My uncle Guy told my aunt Penelope: “I cannot
see Maxime as a military man. He does not take orders very well. He is
disobedient, a rebel by nature since he was born, he will be a catastrophe for
the army.
Probably,
he will end up making a revolution or a coup d’etat.” As to my aunt Penelope
who had a great influence on my parents…well, she was not either very much
happy about sending me to a law school. She told my mother Alexandra: “It is
hard for me to see Maxime as a traditional lawyer in any court in any
civilized country. Instead of defending people and getting them out of jail,
probably, he will end up in jail, every time he will show up before a judge.
How about a medical school? Oh non…non…non…very bad idea. Although, he is very
caring and affectionate, he would probably spend all his time schmoozing and
cruising the nurses and telling them stories…well, let’s think…how about
sending him to engineering school? What do you think Alexandra?” My other aunt
Laure interrupted her to add:” Are you crazy Penelope? Maximillien? An
architect? Mon Dieu! No building in Paris will stand still! Ship him to a “
priests school” and lock him up there until he forgets how the world was
built. I love this kid, this little devil to death, he is so bright but, Mon
Dieu, he is incorrigible, a trouble maker…Voila, I can see “Mon Maximillien”
as a good, a very good priest.” My uncle Guy interrupted her and screamed: “
What a goofy idea, Laure! What did they do to you those poor priests to send
Maximillien to them!?” We have to find something…some sort of a school, a
remote camp on a deserted island or a some other place for this kid but, NOT a
seminary “Jamais De La Vie!”. It was alright with me. I wanted them to fight
among each others, as hard and as long as possible and never to agree on
anything, so I would enjoy a long ride and stay at home for as long as
possible… Unfortunately, they were fast on agreeing on something bizarre and
finally, all of them came up with one single and mortal idea …a very, very bad
choice, and that choice, you probably figured it out: A MONASTERY!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* He
currently lives in London and maintains two residences in England and Italy.
He served for 3 years as the CEO of The American Institute in Italy
http://www.americanhospitalityinstitute.org
Meet Max de Lafayette, AHI President Emeritus
) and for a very long time, as
Editor-in-Chief of the International Herald Daily News in London (
http://www.internationalheralddailynews.org ) and the London
Monthly Herald (
http://www.monthlyherald.com
). And today, nobody knows about his
whereabouts. He vanished in a thin air.
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