Sculptor. Born Friedel Weihs de Weldon in Vienna, the son of a well to do textile manufacturer. At age ten, he was enrolled in Marchetti College, a university preparatory school. He graduated in 1925, having all ready won a national sculpture contest. He received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University at Vienna's Academy of Creative Arts and School of Architecture, and, in 1929, a Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1933, he moved to London where he opened a studio. In 1935, he completed his portrait bust of King George V, which is today on display in the National Portrait Gallery. He moved to the United States in 1938, and served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. At the war's end, the U.S. Congress commissioned him to create a Marine Corps War Memorial based upon the Rosenthal photograph of six Americans raising a U.S. flag at Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The project took nine years; and the 32-foot, 100-ton bronze was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery on November 10, 1954. It is undoubtedly one of his most well-known works. Other pieces, however, can be seen all across the world, including the 1955 Marine Monument, popularly known as Iron Mike, in the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau Wood, France; a 1961 work of Rear Admiral R. E. Byrd at McMurdo Station, Antarctica; and the 1966 National Monument in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. In 1950, he was appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a position renewed in 1956 and 1961. In 1959, he received an honorary knighthood for his service to the British Crown. From 1952 to 1960, he was a teacher as well as the Director of the Newport Rhode Island Academy of Art. His last work was a monument dedicated to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He died at age 96, leaving a legacy of some 2,000 sculptures across all seven continents.
Sculptor. Born Friedel Weihs de Weldon in Vienna, the son of a well to do textile manufacturer. At age ten, he was enrolled in Marchetti College, a university preparatory school. He graduated in 1925, having all ready won a national sculpture contest. He received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University at Vienna's Academy of Creative Arts and School of Architecture, and, in 1929, a Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1933, he moved to London where he opened a studio. In 1935, he completed his portrait bust of King George V, which is today on display in the National Portrait Gallery. He moved to the United States in 1938, and served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. At the war's end, the U.S. Congress commissioned him to create a Marine Corps War Memorial based upon the Rosenthal photograph of six Americans raising a U.S. flag at Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The project took nine years; and the 32-foot, 100-ton bronze was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery on November 10, 1954. It is undoubtedly one of his most well-known works. Other pieces, however, can be seen all across the world, including the 1955 Marine Monument, popularly known as Iron Mike, in the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau Wood, France; a 1961 work of Rear Admiral R. E. Byrd at McMurdo Station, Antarctica; and the 1966 National Monument in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. In 1950, he was appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a position renewed in 1956 and 1961. In 1959, he received an honorary knighthood for his service to the British Crown. From 1952 to 1960, he was a teacher as well as the Director of the Newport Rhode Island Academy of Art. His last work was a monument dedicated to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He died at age 96, leaving a legacy of some 2,000 sculptures across all seven continents.
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