Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), a French sculptor and patriot, is famous for creating the Statue of Liberty, donated by France to the United States in 1886. Born in Colmar in 1834, he studied in Paris and opened his own workshop in 1853. He traveled to Egypt and Arabia Felix in 1855-1856, discovering monumental sculpture. His first public work, the monument to General Rapp, was presented in 1855. During the Franco-Prussian War, he served as an aide-de-camp to Garibaldi. Marked by the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, he exalted the values of freedom. In 1871, on the suggestion of Laboulaye, he identified Liberty Island as the site for the Statue of Liberty. Bartholdi, a Freemason since 1875, collaborated with Gustave Eiffel on the statue. He was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1892 and died in 1904 in Paris, resting in Montparnasse Cemetery.