Biography

Napoleon Jacques (full name Theodore Joseph Napoleon Jacques), a French sculptor, was born  in Paris in 1804, attended classes of drawing and sculpture in his youth. Moved to Russia by the end of 1832 in search of permanent orders. Worked in St. Petersburg in 1833-1858. There he gained prominence. Became the first foreign sculptor working in Russia who created realistic images of ordinary people and genre scenes in bronze in the format of small statuary. Nikolay Lieberich, Evgeny Lanceray and Vasiliy Grachev were his followers, they fully realized this genre and made it actual and popular.

Most well-known works The Caucasian Highlander (1851), The Caucasian Warrior (1851), A Boy in Russian Costume (1853), Bust of E.L. Lazarev, a series of statuettes "Types": Grosser, Street Vendor, Carpenter, A Girl in the Russian Dress, Statuette of Russian Blacksmith (created in 1852-1855).

He is the author of the monument to Peter The Great that was erected in Kronstadt in 1842.

There is no information about the latest period of his life and work. Presumably, Jacques Napoleon left Russia by the end of 1858 since he had not received the promised position of a Professor and academician of the Russian Academy of Arts. He lived in France up to the end of his life and died in 1876.