argued that from an aesthetic point of view, nudity was better: naked people were more beautiful. His principal objection to clothing was, however, a moral one; he felt that a fixation with clothing caused excessive focus on what was covered. In 1894, Reclus was appointed chair of comparative geography at the Free University of Brussels, and moved with his family to Belgium. His brother Élie Reclus was at the university already, teaching religion. Élisée Reclus continued to write, contributing several important articles and essays to French, German and English scientific journals. He was awarded the 1894 Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1905, shortly before his death, Reclus completed L'Homme et la terre, in which he rounded out his previous works by considering humanity's development relative to its geographical environment. Personal life On 11 March 1858, he was initiated in the regular Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge Les Émules d'Hiram, affiliated to the Grand Orient of France. His brother was just initiated and took part in his masonic baptism. He remained at the initiatel degrees of the Masonic spiritual path. Reclus married and had a family, including two daughters. He died at Torhout, near Bruges, Belgium. Legacy Reclus was admired by many prominent 19th century thinkers, including Alfred Russel Wallace, George Perkins Marsh, Patrick Geddes, Henry Stephens Salt, and Octave Mirbeau. James Joyce was influenced by Léon Metchnikoff's book La civilisation et les grands fleuves historiques, to which Reclus contributed a foreword. Reclus advocated nature conservation and opposed meat-eating and cruelty to animals. He was a vegetarian. As a result, his ideas are seen by some historians and writers as anticipating the modern social ecology and animal rights movements. Selected works Books L'Homme et la terre (The Earth and Its Inhabitants"), 6 volumes: L'Homme et la terre (1905), e-text online, Internet Archive v.5 Russia in Europe, etc. (Index) v.6 Asiatic Russia (Index) Europe: v.1, v.2, v.3, v.4, v.5 North America: v.1, v.2, v.3 Africa: v.1 v.2 v.3 v.4. The earth and its inhabitants. The universal geography, ed. by E.G. Ravenstein (A.H. Keane). (J.S. Virtue, 1878) The earth and its inhabitants, Asia, Volume 1 (D. Appleton and Company, 1891) The Earth and Its Inhabitants ...: Asiatic Russia: Caucasia, Aralo-Caspian basin, Siberia (D. Appleton and Company, 1891) The Earth and Its Inhabitants ...: South-western Asia (D. Appleton and Company, 1891) Anthology Du sentiment de la nature dans les sociétés modernes et