Leonard Kuhn, born October 25, 1888 in Petersburg, Kentucky,
was the third child of Leon Sigmund Kuhn and Teresa Edmundson Prorok. We don’t
have much information about his childhood but do know that he resided in Mexico with his parents between 1895 and 1898 and was sent to Geneva
to complete his schooling. We have a report card confirming that between the
ages of 15 and 18 (1903-1906) he attended the ‘College International’ in
Geneva, graduating with honors. The report describes him as a ‘tres brave jeune
homme’ who pursued his studies with zeal. It also mentions his pleasant
character (‘humeur paisible and ses manieres conciliant’) and excellent conduct
(‘digne et honorable.’)
According to his daughter MaryAnne, after graduating from school
in Geneva, Leonard (known as Leo) studied business in England at the direction
of his father Leon who hoped he would help run the family’s alcohol processing
factory ‘La Gran Union’ built in Mexico in 1898. Leo did end up in Mexico City (he listed it as his residence from 1907 to 1919) but it is
unclear what role the Mexican Revolution, which ended up destroying the factory
in 1913 but not all of the Kuhn business interests, played in the family’s
fortunes. In any case MaryAnne said that her father told her that he was not
cut out for business, preferring the arts instead. He painted landscapes but never sold his paintings.
MaryAnne recalls him saying that ‘a gentleman doesn’t earn money.’ Presumably
he lived on income from his family; there is no record of his having any
occupation other than artist. MaryAnne remembers that he loved sports and games
– bridge, futbol, jai alai and, most of all, tennis. He enjoyed working with his hands, for example
building doll houses and chicken coops for the kids.
While in Mexico City Leo met Virginia de Couttelenc and they
were married there on December 14, 1911. They had two children – Teresa
Virginia (“Terry”), born November 1, 1916 and John James (“Jim”) born July 4,
1918. They divorced October 12, 1920 and Leonard moved to Europe. At some point
he met a Spanish-Mexican dancer (MaryAnne recalls her mother telling her that
the woman’s name was Bibi Olachaise and they moved to Madrid but then she died
of tuberculosis in Nice). Later Leo met a French woman, Yvonne Pouthier, and
they were married on January 5, 1928 in Deauville, France. They lived in the
South of France (Cannes) and summered in the Jura (Thoirette), where Yvonne’s
mother had a house. Leo and Yvonne had four children: MaryAnne, born July 7,
1929; Eric Daniel, born Feb 4, 1931; Yveline Constance, born June 21, 1932 and
Cyril Norman, born Feb 5, 1934.
By early 1940 it became clear that the Germans were going to
invade France. In a letter to his father, Jim wrote from Mexico “I agree it
looks bad. In fact it looks like Hell for Europe….You and Yvonne and the brats
should leg it to the U.S.” Leo made contact with the American consulate and
awaited instructions on how to leave France. In April he and Yvonne sent the
four children ahead with their grandmother to relative safety north of Bordeaux.
After harrowing trips across the country, Yvonne and Leo met up with the family
in Hendaye in the Pyrenees where they were able to cross into Spain (the
embassy had buses waiting at the border). After three weeks of waiting with
thousands of other refugees, they were able to obtain visas to Portugal and
take the train to Lisbon. From there they boarded the ship ‘Manhattan’ bound
for New York.
From New York they made their way to Washington D.C. where Leo’s
sister Alice and her husband, Borden Covel, lived. Leo’s brother Fred was
living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and suggested they settle there. Leo had a
difficult relationship with Fred and the family decided instead to settle on
the western coast of Florida, in Clearwater, arriving August 7, 1940. MaryAnne
recalls that only a few weeks after they arrived, her father began to have
health problems, first with his prostate and then with high blood pressure. He
had a stroke and then upon his return to France in 1945, a second one. He died October 18, 1945 at age 56 in La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre, France and is buried in Thoirette.
