Theophile "Toto" Papin Jr. (1857–1916) was a

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, real estate man known as the "squire of debutantes" because of the large number of young women who made their bow into society under his auspices.

Biography

Papin was born in St. Louis on April 23, 1857, the son of Theophile Papin (c. 1827 – 1902) of St. Louis and Julia Henry of Illinois. He had a brother, Edward V., and two sisters, Julia and Mrs. Gerald M. Borden. Papin went to school in France and then attended

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

and

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. He also studied in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

and Cassel, Germany. Papin was noted in St. Louis

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

circles because of his friendship with high dignitaries of the church and that he had been granted private audiences by Popes

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

and

Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

. He went to

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

in 1912 to deliver to Pope Pius the testimony taken in connection with the

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

of Rose Philippine Duchesne of the Sacred Heart Convent in

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making St. Charles the List of cities in ...

. He booked a ticket on the for his return trip, but canceled at the last moment, thus avoiding the sinking of the liner when it struck an iceberg. The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' said of him: "Papin was regarded as one of the best-educated men in St. Louis. He was a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, a lover of rare books and a collector of valuable paintings. He was also known for being recruited by society women to take care of the myriad details of their daughters' "coming out" as

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...

s during St. Louis's

social season The social season, or season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, it was also the appr ...

. Theophile Papin died at his home in St. Louis on March 3, 1916.

References

External links

Marguerite Martyn, "What Is Society: Toto Papin Explains" (website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papin, Theophile 1857 births 1916 deaths Saint Louis University alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni American businesspeople in real estate People from St. Louis American art collectors