Sculptor. Born in Erfurt near Leipzig,  Anton studied sculpture under the sculptors Johann Baptist Stiglmaier and Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler in Munich, in 1836 to 1840. His first sculptural project, “Saint George and the Dragon” for the courtyard of the Montenuovo palace, attracted attention, and the Austrian government appointed him director of the imperial bronze foundry at Vienna, in 1840, where he was part of the rebellion against the Neo-Classicism of that time and place. For the Cathedral of Speyer, in 1858 he completed six of the eight free-stone statues of the German emperors buried there. Also in 1858 he cooperated on the statue of Archduke Karl (who had defeated Napoleon at Aspern) at the Heldenplatz. He also made a statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy, but by unveiling in 1865 he was mentally ill and no longer able to work. He is well remembered for his portraits, and these include a bust of the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and the funerary bust of Carl Ludwig Freiherr von Bruck in 1862. He was also a noted animalier, producing works such as the Lion of Aspern in Vienna. His statue of ban Josip Jelačić stands at the central Zagreb square, named after Jelačić. The square features a large equestrian statue of the Baron, created by Anton. The statue was originally installed in October 1866 by the Austrian authorities, it was removed in 1947, as the new Communist government of Yugoslavia denounced Jelačić as an Austrian collaborator. In 1990, the statue was reinstated after Croatia regained independence and Jelačić’s historic role was reevaluated. Among his other works are busts of Beethoven, Hebbel and in remembrance of the Austrian soldiers that were killed there in 1809. He died at the age of 65 in the hospital for mental patients in Saint Radengundu near Graz. (bio by: Shock) Cause of death: heart attack