He married Jean Thomson Harris, whom Paul Harris affectionately called 'Bonnie Jean'. He had no children. As a practitioner of Law, Paul did not find instant success. He said he went hungry and forlorn for many days. Lonely days of Chicago prompted him to find friends for fellowship and share mutual concerns.

Paul's idea was that businessmen could get together periodically in a spirit of camaraderie to enjoy each other's company and enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances.

Talking it over with three of his clients - Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant, Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer and Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor, he conceived the idea of organising a club which came into being on 23rd February 1905 when they met in GUS LOEHR'S OFFICE ROOM AT 711, IN THE UNITY BUILDING which still exists at 127, North Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois U.S.A.

Paul Harris named the club "Rotary" because the members in the early days of this organisation met by rotation at their places of business. He was elected President Emerkus of Rotary International in 1912 and was active until his death on January 27, 1947.

PAUL P. HARRIS WAS NOT A PERSON OF WEALTHY, ARISTOCRATIC ROOTS,
'BUT OF HUMBLE AND MEAGRE BEGINNINGS. YET LIKE MAHATMA.
GANDHI, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., MOTHER TERESA, NELSON MANDELA
THIS MAN BEHIND THE ROTARY MOVEMENT - WAS
A GREAT APOSTLE OF PEACE."

As a rare collection, Rotary Surat Riverside found an image of Paul Harris's signature on the cover of his autobiography "The Founder of Rotary". Also listen to Paul's voice on radio in our Multimedia link from the home page.