Kenneth John Conant (June 28, 1894 – March 3, 1984) was an American

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, who specialized in

medieval architecture Medieval architecture was the architecture, art and science of designing and constructing buildings in the Middle Ages. The major styles of the period included pre-Romanesque, Romanesque architecture, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture, Gothic. In ...

. Conant is known for his studies of

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with t ...

Career

Born in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, O ...

, Conant received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in Fine Arts from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1915. He was considered the academic heir of Herbert Langford Warren, a teacher at Harvard, and through him, of the art historians

Charles Eliot Norton Charles Eliot Norton (November 16, 1827 – October 21, 1908) was an American author, social critic, and Harvard professor of art based in New England. He was a progressive social reformer and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries c ...

and

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

. He served in the 42nd Infantry Division of the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was wounded in the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918. Conant later returned to Harvard. His dissertation on the

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica ( Spanish and Galician: ) is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The ...

was published as a monograph in 1926. Conant's lifework was the study of the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, which he excavated beginning in 1927, funded by his first of five separate

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

s. He considered Cluny the preeminent accomplishment in all of architectural history. Conant was an elected member of both the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He taught architectural history at Harvard from 1924 to 1955, the year of his retirement.

Legacy

In 1916, Denman Ross painted a portrait of Conant, now in the

Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

. In 1940, a group of students, who studied under Conant, formed the

Society of Architectural Historians The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the study and preservation of the built environment worldwide. Based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, the Society's 3,500 members inc ...

under his influence.

References

External links

Mapping Gothic France profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conant, Kenneth John 1894 births 1984 deaths People from Neenah, Wisconsin United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American architectural historians Harvard College alumni Harvard University faculty Corresponding fellows of the British Academy American male non-fiction writers Historians from Wisconsin Presidents of the Archaeological Institute of America Members of the American Philosophical Society