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Events on Thursday 12 November 1840 2
1840 – 1917Auguste RodinThe ThinkerRenowned sculptor often considered the founder of modern sculpture.
1840Auguste Rodin born in ParisFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin is born on 12 November 1840 in the rue de l'Arbalète in Paris, to Jean-Baptiste Rodin, a clerk, and Marie Cheffer. The family is lower-middle-class and not artistic. Auguste is a poor student — short-sighted and inattentive in class — but shows an early gift for drawing. His sister Marie, two years older, is his closest companion in childhood; her death in 1862 from a fever devastates him and briefly drives him into a religious community.