| Dates |
Principal Events |
Key Writings |
| 1881 |
May 1 |
Birth at Sarcenat, Auvergne, France |
|
| 1899 |
March |
Enters
Jesuit novitiate at Aix-en-Provence |
|
| 1902 |
October |
Continues Jesuit training at Jersey, England |
|
| 1905 |
August |
Leaves
for Cairo, Egypt for three- year teaching internship at Jesuit
school |
|
| 1909 |
October |
Continues Jesuit training at Hastings, England |
|
| 1911 |
August
24 |
Ordained as a
priest at Hastings, England |
|
| 1912 |
October |
Begins geology studies
at the Museum of Natural History, Paris |
|
| 1914 |
December |
Called
up for WWI service with medical corps as a stretch-bearer |
|
| 1915 |
September 1 |
Awarded Croix de Guerre medal |
|
| 1916 |
April |
At the battle of Verdun |
"Cosmic Life" in Writings in Time of War |
|
September |
|
"Mastery of the World and the Kingdom of God"
in Writings... |
| 1917 |
February |
At the front near the Marne river |
"The Struggle Against the Multitude"
in Writings... |
|
August |
|
"The Mystical Milieu" in Writings... |
|
November |
|
"Creative Union"
in Writings... |
| 1918 |
January-February
|
At the front in Champagne |
"The Soul of the World" in Writings...; "The Great Monad"
in The Heart of Matter
|
| March
|
|
"The Eternal Feminine" in Writings in Time of War |
| April
|
|
"My Universe" in The Heart of Matter |
| July
|
At the second battle of the Marne |
"The Priest" in Writings in Time of War |
| September
|
|
"Operative Faith" in Writings... |
| December
|
End of WWI
|
"Forma Christi" in Writings... |
| 1919 |
January |
At the frontier with Germany |
"Note on the Presentation of the Gospel for a New Age"
in The Heart of Matter |
| February |
With occupying forces in Germany |
"The Promised Land" in Writings in Time of War |
| April |
Released from the army,
returns to continue studies at the Museum |
|
|
August
|
Retreat and visiting with Jesuits at Jersey, England |
"The Heart of Matter" in The Heart of Matter |
| October
| Continues studies at Museum
of Natural History and Institut Catholique |
|
| 1920 |
January |
|
"The Humanity of Christ and the Faithful" and "The Modes of Divine Action in the Universe"
in Christianity and Evolution |
| July |
Field work near Rheims in connection with studies |
"Fall, Redemption and Geocentrism" in
Christianity and Evolution
|
| August |
|
"A Note on Progress" in
The Future of Man
|
| 1921 |
January |
|
"On my Attitude to the Official Church" in
The Heart of Matter |
| February |
Teaching geology at Institut Catholique, Paris |
"Science and Christ" in Science and Christ |
| 1922 |
March 22 |
Successful oral defense of doctoral thesis in geology |
|
| April |
Continuing to teach at Institut
Catholique |
"Some Possible Historical Representations of Original Sin" in
Christianity and Evolution |
| 1923 |
January |
|
"Pantheism and Christianity" in Christianity
and Evolution |
| April
|
First trip to China, invited by Father Emile Licent, S.J. |
|
|
June- August |
First
field trip with Licent |
"The Mass on the World" in The Heart of Matter |
| 1924 |
March |
|
"My Universe" in Science and Christ |
| April |
Field trip
with Licent |
|
| September |
Returns to
France by sea |
|
| October |
Resumes courses
at Institut Catholique |
|
| October |
Gives retreats
for students of Grandes Ecoles |
|
| 1926 |
April |
Leaves
for China with Licent |
|
|
May |
|
"The Basis and Foundation of the Idea of Evolution"
in The Vision of the Past
|
|
June- August |
Field trip with Licent to Shanchow and Shensi provinces
|
|
| 1927 |
March |
|
The Divine Milieu |
| May-July |
Field trip
with Licent to Northern China
|
|
| August |
Return to France |
|
| 1928 |
September |
|
"The Phenomenon of Man" in Science and Christ |
| November |
Field trip to Ethiopia until January, 1929 |
|
| 1929 |
February-March |
Return
to China |
"The Sense of Man" in Toward the Future |
| April |
Undertakes geological analysis of the excavation site at Choukoutien |
|
| June
|
Appointed Adviser to the Chinese Geological Service |
|
| December
2 |
Pei Wen-chung, excavation director at Choukoutien, discovers the first
Sinanthropus skull |
Chou-Kou-Tien (with C.C. Young) |
| 1930 |
January |
|
"What Should we Think of Transformism?" in
The Vision of the Past |
| February |
Field trip with George
Barbour |
|
|
May-June |
Field trip with Chapman
Andrews |
|
|
September - December |
Trip to France |
|
| 1931 |
January |
Trip
to USA, lecture at Columbia University |
|
| February-March |
Return to China |
"The Spirit of the Earth" in Human Energy |
| May - February, 1932 |
Participates in Citroen expedition across China, Mongolia and Turkestan |
|
| 1932 |
July
|
Field trip to Shansi province |
|
| September |
Return to
France for four months |
"The Road of the West" in Toward the Future
|
| 1933 |
March |
Return to China |
|
|
April |
|
"The Significance and Positive Value of Suffering"
in Human Energy |
|
May |
|
"Christianity in the World" in Science and Christ |
|
July-September |
Trip
to USA, attends
International Congress of Geology in Washington |
|
|
October |
Return to China |
"Modern Unbelief" in Science and Christ |
|
December |
|
"Christology and Evolution" in Christianity and Evolution |
| 1934 |
February |
|
"The Evolution of Chastity" in
Toward the Future |
| May |
Yangtze Expedition,
and trip to Central Asia with Barbour |
|
| October |
|
"How I Believe" in Christianity and Evolution |
| 1935 |
May |
Return
to France |
|
|
September-December |
Field trip to India with Helmut de Terra |
"The
Discovery of the Past" in Vision of the Past |
|
December-January |
Field trip to
Java with Von Koenigswald |
|
| 1936 |
January |
Return to
China
|
|
|
March |
|
"Sketch for a Personalistic Universe" in Human Energy |
|
October |
|
"Some Reflexions on the Conversion of the World" in
Science and Christ |
|
November |
|
"The Salvation of Mankind" in Science and Christ |
| 1937 |
February |
Visits USA |
|
|
March-April |
Return
to France via Atlantic route |
"The Phenomenon of Spirituality" in Human Energy |
|
August- September |
Return to China |
|
| October |
|
"Human Energy" in Human Energy |
| December |
To
Burma to join Helmut de Terra |
|
| 1938 |
March |
Arrival in
Java with Helmut de Terra; stays with Von Koenigswald |
|
| May |
Return to
China |
|
| June |
Begins The
Phenomenon of Man |
|
| September |
Leaves for
USA via Pacific route |
|
| November |
Returns to
France via Atlantic route |
|
| 1939 |
March |
Visit to England |
"The Mysticism of Science" in Human Energy;
"The Grand Option" in The Future of Man;
"The Function of Art as an Expression of Human Energy" in Toward the Future
|
|
June-August |
Return
to China via USA |
|
| August
|
Arrival
in China where he stays until 1946 |
|
| 1940 |
May |
Sets up Institute
of Geobiology with Father Pierre Leroy, S.J. |
|
| June |
Finishes The
Phenomenon of Man |
The Phenomenon of Man |
| June |
Publishes
several papers on Chou-Kou-Tien |
|
| October |
|
"The Awaited Word" in Toward the Future |
| 1941 |
March
|
Lectures
at French Embassy on 'The Future of Man as seen by a Paleontologist' |
"Some
Reflections on Progress" in The Future of Man |
| September
|
|
"The Atomism of Spirit" in The Activation of Energy |
| 1942 |
January |
|
"The Rise of the Other" in Toward
the Future |
| February |
|
"The New Spirit" in The Future of Man |
| October |
|
"Christ the Evolver" in Christianity and Evolution |
| 1943 |
March |
Lecture on human fossils
at the Catholic University of Peking |
|
| August |
Founds
journal Geobiologia |
"Super-Humanity, Super Christ, Super-Charity"
in Science and Christ |
| December |
|
"Reflections on Happiness" in Toward the Future |
1944 |
June |
|
"Introduction to the Christian Life" in Christianity and Evolution |
| December |
|
"Centrology" in The Activation of Energy |
| 1945 |
March |
Lecture on "Life and the Planets"
at the French Embassy in Peking
|
"Life and the Planets" in The Future of Man |
| April |
|
"Can Moral Science Dispense with a Metaphysical Foundation?"
in Toward the Future |
| August |
|
"Action and Activation" in Science and Christ |
| November |
|
"Christianity and Evolution: Suggestions for a New Theology" in
Christianity and Evolution |
| December |
| "The Planetization of Mankind" in The Future of Man |
| 1946 |
May |
Return to France |
|
| August |
Lecture at the congress of the French
Universitary Union on "Man and Paleontology" |
"Catholicism and Science" in Science and Christ |
| November |
|
"Outline of a Dialectic of Spirit"
in Activation of Energy |
| December |
|
"Ecumenism" in Science and Christ |
| 1947 |
January
|
Meeting of priests-scientists at Father Lejay's,
Public discussion between Teilhard and Gabriel Marcel on "Complexity and Consciousness" |
"Faith in Peace" and "The Formation of the Noosphere" in
The Future of Man;
"The Place of Technology in a General Biology of Mankind" in
The Activation of Energy |
| March |
Address on "Faith in Man"
to the World Congress of Faiths |
"Faith in Man" in The Future of Man |
| June
1 |
Heart
attack |
|
| August |
Convalescing at clinic in St. Germain |
"The Religious Value of Research" in Science and Christ |
| September |
Continuing convalescence |
"The Human Rebound of Evolution" in The Future of Man |
| November |
|
"Reflection on Original Sin" in Christianity and Evolution |
| December |
|
"Turmoil or Genesis?" in The Future of Man |
| 1948 |
February |
| "Two Principles and a Corollary" in Toward the Future |
|
March-June |
Trip
to USA |
|
| June |
Return to
France |
"The Directions and Conditions of the Future" in
The Future of Man |
| August |
Visits his brother Joseph at Les Moulins |
"Note on the Biological Structure of Mankind" in Science and Christ;
"My Fundamental Vision" in Toward the Future
|
| October |
Visits Rome seeking
approval for publication of The Phenomenon of Man and
for appointment to Chair at College de France |
|
| November |
Return to
France |
|
| 1949 |
January |
|
"A Phenomenon of Counter-Evolution
in Human Biology" in Activation of Energy |
| February |
Lectures
at Sorbonne on The Human Zoological Group |
"The Essence of the Democratic Idea" in
The Future of Man |
| May |
|
"Does Mankind Move Biologically Upon Itself" in
The Future of Man |
| September |
|
"The Heart of the Problem" in
The Future of Man |
| November |
Attends
International Congress on Philosophy of Science |
"The Vision of the Past" in
The Vision of the Past |
| March |
Visits his brother Joseph at Les Moulins |
"Note on the Biological Structure of Mankind"
in Science and Christ |
| 1950 |
March |
Talk at the Cite Universitaire on the "Phases of the Living Planet". |
"What is Life?" in Science and Christ |
|
May |
|
"The Christian Phenomenon " in Christianity and Evolution |
| June |
|
"The Evolution of Responsibility in the World" in The Activation of Energy |
| July |
|
"Two Converse Forms of Spirit " in The Activation of Energy |
| August |
Visits his brother Joseph at Les Moulins |
|
| October |
Trip to Belgium to give lectures at Jesuit centers |
|
| November |
|
"The Zest for Living" in The Activation of Energy |
| 1951 |
January |
Lectures
at Sorbonne on the "Phyletic Structure of the Human Group" |
"The Spiritual Energy of Suffering" in The Activation of Energy |
| March |
|
"From Cosmos to Cosmogenesis" and "Reflections on the Religious Consequences of an Ultra Human" in
The Activation of Energy |
| July-October |
Paleontology field trip to
South Africa for Wenner-Gren Foundation |
"The Convergence of the Universe" in The Activation of Energy |
| December |
Accepts research
post with Wenner Gren Foundation at New York, which he keeps until
his death |
|
| 1952 |
February |
Lectures on Australopithecines
at the New York Academy of Sciences |
|
| June |
Presents paper on human
evolution at Wenner-Gren Foundation symposium in Chicago |
|
| July-August |
Trip
across USA (combined social visits and field studies) |
|
| 1953 |
April |
|
"On Looking at a Cyclotron" in The Activation of Energy |
| May |
|
"The Contingency of the Universe and Man's Zest for Survival" in
Christianity and Evolution |
|
July-October |
Second South
African trip for Wenner-Gren Foundation |
"The Stuff of the Universe" in The Activation of Energy;
"The God of Evolution" In Christianity and Evolution |
| 1954 |
January |
|
"A Summary of my 'Phenomenological' View of the World" in Toward
the Future
|
| June |
Trip to France |
|
| June
|
Lecture
on prehistoric man at Societes Sevantes, Paris |
|
| July |
Visits family at Orcines and Lascaux caves
with Father Leroy |
|
| August |
Return
to New York |
|
|
October |
Participated in
Columbia University symposium on The Unity of Human Knowledge |
|
| 1955 |
January |
|
"The Death-Barrier and Co-Reflection" in The Activation of Energy |
| March |
|
"Research, Work and Worship" in Science and Christ;
"The Christic" in The Heart of Matter
|
| April 10 |
Death (Easter Sunday) |
|