Maurice Leloir (1 November 1853 - 7 October 1940; Paris, France)
Maurice Leloir, born on 1 November 1853 in Paris where he died on 7 October 1940, was an illustrator, watercolourist, draftsman, printmaker, writer and collector of French artefacts.

Son and pupil of the painter Auguste Leloir and watercolourist Héloise Colin, he exhibited first at the Salon of French artists, becoming a member. He was involved, along with many other painters, in the Crozant School located in the valleys of Creusoises.

Around the 1890s, Maurice Leloir and his students, inspired by the new-fangled photographs, inundated the illustrated book market with illustrations that accurately represented the costumes and attitudes of the past, and their illustrations were hugely appreciated by the readership.

A prolific illustrator of books - notably including children's books such as Richelieu by Theodore Cahu, magazines and periodicals, he founded the Society for the History of Costume in 1907.

His brother, Alexandre-Louis Leloir, was also an accomplished and acknowledged painter and illustrator, and the author Guy de Maupassant dedicated his new book 'Idyll' to him in 1884.