Romauld Landau (1899–1974) was born in Poland but became a British citizen when he served as a volunteer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Born of Polish-German parents, Landau studied philosophy, art, and religion at various European schools and universities, notably in Germany.

His themes were art history, Polish biography (notably, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Józef Klemens Piłsudski), and comparative religion.

Landau taught himself Arabic and spent as much time as he could afford living and travelling in North Africa and the Middle East.

After the war, Landau returned to North Africa and he established close personal ties there with Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco and other Arab leaders of liberation movements.

Landau also wrote numerous essays and book reviews for The Reporter, New Statesman, The Spectator and other British and American periodicals of the day.

[3] After a lecture tour to the United States (1952–1953) Landau settled in San Francisco, where he was employed by Frederic Spiegelberg's American Academy of Asian Studies, headed for a period by the instructor Alan Watts.

[5] In his earlier career Landau wrote God is My Adventure (1935), a best-selling book in which he recounted his various contacts with leading figures and unusual persons of philosophical, religious, and mystical fame, such as Hermann Graf Keyserling, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Frank Buchman, Rudolf Steiner, G I Gurdjieff, P D Ouspensky, Meher Baba, and others.

Even worse, the journalist appeared to be falling under some 'hypnotic influence' …"[6] According to Whitall Perry, "Explaining that he himself is not at all telepathic, given to mediumship, or subject to hypnotism, Landau says … In a few seconds he felt his body from the waist down penetrated with a growing weakness enough to render him incapable of leaving his chair had he tried.

Only by mustering all his concentration in talk with the young attendant did he finally manage to extricate himself … Upon departing he was presented by Gurdjieff with a copy of his Herald of Coming Good; it was bound in imitation suède, but of a grain so abrasive it made the teeth grind at the very touch.

[11] This Collection consists chiefly of Rom Landau's personal library and other materials, notably clippings, periodicals and government documents that he used in teaching coursework in Islamic Studies at the University of the Pacific.