Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (; 2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculptor who is best known for designing "Liberty Enlightening the World", commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Bartholdi was born in Colmar, France, 2 August 1834. He was born to a family of German Protestant (Alsatian) and Italian heritage, with his family name Romanticized from Barthold. Jean Charles Bartholdi (1791–1836) and Augusta Charlotte Bartholdi ( Beysser; 1801–1891), Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was the youngest of their four children, and one of only two to survive infancy, along with the oldest brother, Jean-Charles, who
Statue of Liberty U.S. peoples. Because of the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the U.S. provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on