Viredo Espinosa (1928 - 2012)

Exiled cuban painter born in Regla, and member of the “Group of Eleven”, which marked the emergence of abstract expressionism in Cuba. He was marginalized by the revolutionary government after refusing to sign the necessary political form to join the National Association of Painters, Sculptors and Recorders established in 1959, so that he was denied […]

George Lawrence Mabson (1970 - 1885)

First black Attorney in State of North Carolina. Served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, North Carolina Senate, represented New Hanover County, North Carolina, in the Constitutional Convention of 1875. Later, served as Vice President of the Colored Education Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina, was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth and Fifth Battalions, […]

José Escobar (1908 - 1994)

Noted Spanish comic book artist. He created “Zipi y Zape,” “Carpanta,” and “Petra, Criada Para Todo.” (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

M. C. Escher (1898 - 1972)

One of the world’s greatest Artists,  Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in 1898 in Leeuwarden, Holland.  In his youth he enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem.  He developed a knack for graphic art, as he had shown his drawings and linoleum cuts to his graphic teacher Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, […]

Kenneth Eugene Lyon (1933 - 2004)

Police Officer. Born in Dallas, Texas. Kenneth was a US Army veteran, serving in the Korean War. He also served in the US Coast Guard. Kenneth was a career police officer, retiring after thirty years from the Dallas Police Department as a Lieutenant. Kenneth was a Dallas plain-clothes police officer who helped apprehend Lee Harvey […]

Max Ernst (1891 - 1976)

Artist.  A philosophy student with no formal art training,  he became a founder of the Dada and Surrealist movements.  Ernst pioneered the graphic novel with his book “The Woman with 100 Breasts” (1929),  a strange narrative consisting entirely of collages.  He also developed a technique he called “frottage”,  using paint,  charcoal,  and pencil rubbings over […]

Ramón Lorenzo Falcón (1855 - 1909)

Argentinian Military Officer. He was the chief of police between 1906 and 1909. This year he was murdered by an anarchist while he traveled in his carriage with his secretary Alberto Lartigau. (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Jimmy Ernst (1920 - 1984)

Rebel Artist. Son of surrealist artist, Max Ernst.  Family links:  Spouse:  Edith Dallas Bauman Ernst (1923 – 2011)* *Calculated relationship

Brockholst Livingston (1757 - 1823)

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. He was born on a Friday to William Livingston and Susanna French and given the name Henry Brockholst Livingston. He would soon drop the first name in both his professional and private lives. He was the nephew of Philip Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and brother-in-law […]

Edvard Eriksen (1876 - 1959)

Artist. One of Denmark’s most prominent sculptors. His most famous work is “The Little Mermaid” statue that sits in the harbor at Langelinie in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Hans Achim Litten (1903 - 1938)

German Lawyer. Hans Litten was the eldest son of Friedrich Litten – a Jew who converted to Lutheranism to further his career as a law professor.  Hans had a difficult relationship with his father, believing his conversion was opportunistic. Although baptized a Christian, Hans studied Judaism and learned Hebrew. He was interested in art history, […]

Arthur Charles Erickson (1924 - 2009)

Architect,  Urban Planner. Internationally recognized, he was considered to be Canada’s most accomplished modernist architect. Born in Vancouver, he studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia. In 1943 he joined the Canadian Army and served in India, Ceylon and Malaysia. By the end of World War II, he was a captain in the […]

Barry Levin (1947 - 2001)

Lawyer. Levin was a high-profiled Attorney from Los Angeles, California. Levin’s famous clients included Erik Menendez, who was convicted of killing his parents along with his brother Lyle, actor Robert Blake who was charged with the shooting death of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley, and also Los Angeles police Sgt. Edward Ortiz who was convicted […]

Jacob Epstein (1880 - 1959)

Jacob Epstein was born in New York City of Jewish parents. His ambition was to become a painter, and he began by sketching the characters of the ghetto. Unfortunately, he had to abandon this because of his poor eyesight, and decided to become a sculptor instead. In 1902, he moved to Paris in order to […]

Joe Shelby “Joe” LeFors (1865 - 1940)

Western Lawman. Born Joseph S. LeFors in Paris, Texas, he began his career in law enforcement in 1887, as a Wyoming Livestock Inspector recovering rustled cattle. In 1899, he was appointed a Deputy US Marshal and led a posse to capture Butch Cassidy’s gang for train robberies in the territory. He is perhaps most noted […]

James Sydney Ensor (1860 - 1949)

James Ensor is one of the most surprising artists of the 19th century. (Although he in fact lived until after World War 2, his finest work dates from the period 1880-1905).  Born in the Belgian seaside town of Ostend, to an English father (an unsuccessful engineer) and a Belgian mother (from a family of proprietors […]

Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr (1877 - 1945)

Renowned criminal lawyer who became mayor of El Paso, Texas (1915-17).  He served during Pancho Villa’s activities in the Mexican Interior and on the boarder.  He threatened Villa with arrest if he came to El Paso.  In retaliation Villa offered a standing reward of a thousand pesos in gold to anyone who would deliver on […]

George Engleheart (1970 - 1970)

Artist. English painter of portraits and miniatures. He studied with Sir Joshua Reynolds and made copies in miniature of Reynold’s paintings. He was the Court miniaturist for King George III. (bio by: Connie Nisinger)  Family links:  Spouse:  Elizabeth Brown Engleheart (1753 – 1779)* *Calculated relationship

Gerald Eric Le Dain (1924 - 2007)

Jurist, Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He was an expert in constitutional law and participated in many early cases arising from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). Born in Montreal, he volunteered at age 18 for service in the Canadian Army from 1943 to 1946. He was a gunner with […]

Carl Ludvig Engel (1778 - 1840)

German Architect. Also known as Johann Carl Ludwig Engel, he is noted for his 19th century neoclassical architecture that transformed the look of the city of Helsinki, Finland from 1816 to 1840.  His early education came as a surveyor at the Berlin Bauakademie, graduating as an architect in 1804.  He first worked for the Prussian […]

Henry Franklin Lawrence (1868 - 1950)

US Congressman. The family moved to Missouri shortly after his birth. A banker by trade, he served as a clerk of Daviess County from 1907 to 1911 and was the mayor of Cameron, Clinton County from 1914 through 1918. He was elected on the Republican ticket in 1920, serving in US House of Representatives from […]

Frank X. “Francis” Endres (1911 - 1995)

Animator. He is remembered for bringing his drawing talents to many early classic cartoon films and shorts. Endres began his career as an animator during the 1920s when he entered a drawing contest with a picture of a character named Ko Ko the Clown. He won the contest and was offered a job in 1930, […]

Bora Laskin (1912 - 1984)

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay), the son of Max Laskin and Bluma Zingel.  Educated at the University of Toronto, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1933. He received the degrees of Master of Arts in 1935 and Bachelor of Laws in 1936. While at […]

Magnus Enckell (1870 - 1925)

Painter. A leading representative of the Finnish Symbolist movement. After studying in Helsinki and Paris, he was influenced by painter Puvis de Chavannes and the masterpieces of the Italian  Renaissance. He then broke with the Naturalists and became the leader of the well-known “Symbolist Septem” group, which he co-founded with Verner Thomé and Ellen Thesleff. […]

Moshe Landau (1912 - 2011)

Israeli Jurist. He was best known as the chief judge in the 1961 trial of Nazi arch-criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, who was convicted of war crimes and hanged. He was a member of the Israeli Supreme Court when he was picked to head the three-judge panel for the Eichmann trial. Born in Danzig (part […]

Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott (1871 - 1954)

Illustrator. Raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, her parents wanted her to have every social advantage, and sent her to private schools.  She became interested in art at a very young age, and was encouraged by her father, who had been an artist-correspondent during the Civil War for “Harper’s Weekly”.  When Green was 17 years old, she […]

Antonio Lamer (1933 - 2007)

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.  Born Joseph Antonio Charles Lamer in Montreal,  he served in the Royal Canadian Artillery from 1950 to 1954 and the Canadian Intelligence Corps from 1954 to 1960. He was educated at College de Saint-Laurent and University of Montreal. After his call to the Bar of Quebec in […]

John Adams Elder (1833 - 1895)

Civil War Artist.  He won an academy prize at the famous art school in Dusseldorf, Germany.  Instead of using part of his prize which was a trip to Rome, he returned to Fredericksburg to paint in a one-room studio at the old Exchange Hotel.  The hotel later burned to the ground and he operated elsewhere. […]

John Wesley Lacey (1848 - 1936)

Lawyer. Served as the Attorney that defended Western Outlaw figure Tom Horn in the 1903 murder trial of Willie Nickle.  Family links:  Spouse:  Elizabeth Van Devanter Lacey (1861 – 1945)  Children:  Herbert V Lacey (1879 – 1930)*  Walter M Lacey (1884 – 1942)*  Ruth Lacey Barber (1885 – 1975)* *Calculated relationship

Martin Edmond (1970 - 2004)

Illustration Artist. His most famous work was the comic book “White Trash” series. He was the co-creator of “Accident Man,” and also worked on the Illicit clothing line. Other comic and illustration credits include “Toxic,” “Lobo,” “Heavy Metal” and “The Punisher.”  He was a writer for the “Piratenet” TV series.