The Early Years and the Call of the East Born in Paris, France, Paul Alexandre Alfred Leroy spent his formative years far from the streets of his birthplace. His childhood was spent in Odessa, Russia, where his father conducted business. This early exposure to a different way of life left a lasting impression on the young boy, planting a seed of interest in the East that would define his entire career. When he eventually returned to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, he did so with a perspective shaped by those distant horizons. His talent was evident early on. In 1882, at the age of…