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 it was never erected. There was a classical precedent for the Suez proposal, the Colossus of Rhodes: an ancient bronze statue of the Greek god of the sun, Helios. This statue is believed to have been over high, and it similarly stood at a harbor entrance and carried a light to guide ships. Both the khedive and Lesseps declined the proposed statue from Bartholdi, citing the expensive cost. The Port Said Lighthouse was built instead, by François Coignet in 1869. Any large project was further delayed by the Franco-Prussian War, in which Bartholdi served as a major of militia. In