early life and education frédéric auguste bartholdi, a french sculptor and painter, was born on april 2, 1834, in colmar, france. his family, of alsatian protestant heritage, adopted the name barthold from his ancestors. frédéric's father, jean charles bartholdi, passed away when he was just two years old, prompting his mother to move with her children to paris. artistic pursuits in paris, frédéric auguste bartholdi took drawing lessons from martin rossbach and later studied sculpture under antoine étex. he also delved into architecture under the guidance of henri labrouste and eugène-emmanue…