In 1839, he was allowed
to take Latin lessons from the parish priest of Attigny. Two years later, he entered the sixth grade at
the minor seminary in Senaide. In 1844, he was sent to the full seminary in Châtel-sur-Moselle, but
stayed for only a few months. After that, he earned his living by sculpting
crosses for the tombs at the local cemetery. A friend of the family, Father
Charles Chapiat, provided him with a small sum that would enable him to join
his older brother in Paris. There, he sought a position as an apprentice engraver. He also took lessons from Eugène André Oudiné, Louis Merley,
and André
Vauthier-Galle [fr]; noted sculptors and
medallists. This was brought to an end when he caught cholera, during the epidemic of 1849, and returned to Nonville
to recover.
The Société d'émulation du département des Vosges, a learned society devoted to antiquities, among other
interests, provided assistance to the young artist. A scholarship gave him the
means to return to Paris in 1854 and take classes at the École des Beaux-Arts.[2] His talents were recognized the following year,
when he was awarded second place in the engraving category at the Prix de Rome. In 1857, he received that same honor in the
sculpture category.
It was then that he
decided to focus on medals, and was named a portrait medallist to Napoleon III. In 1867, medals he designed were awarded at
the Exposition Universelle.
That same year, he was named a Knight in the Legion of Honor. But these achievements were overshadowed by
the death of his wife, Adélaïde, in 1869. They had been married for nine years,
and had two children.
In 1871, he was
appointed a Professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. His notable students there
would include Oscar Roty, Alexandre Charpentier, Ovide
Yencesse [fr], Abel Lafleur, and Paul Niclausse. The following year he remarried, to Marie
Suligowtoski-Dunin. They settled in Malakoff, and had eight children. He was
also elected a member of the Municipal Council where, in 1881, he proposed that
the Republic should be
acclaimed after each meeting. His proposal was adopted by a large margin.
Later, he served on a commission in charge of creating a new cemetery, for
which he sculpted a monument. He resigned from the Council in 1884.
He died at home in 1903, and was interred at the nearby Vanves Cemetery. A room in the Musée du 11 Conti in Paris has been named after him, as have streets in Belmont and Malakoff.