CB01

April 1865. A handful of Republicans, ardent admirers of American democracy, gather in Glatigny to celebrate the abolition of slavery in the United States and pay tribute to President Lincoln, who was assassinated six days earlier. During dinner, Édouard de Laboulaye, the politician behind this discreet gathering, spoke passionately about the idea of a colossal statue, a symbol of freedom, as a gift from France to America. His impassioned speech captivated a young sculptor among the guests: Auguste Bartholdi. The project for the future Statue of Liberty was born. It was a seemingly impossible undertaking, to which the Colmar-born sculptor would devote twenty years of his life, moving heaven and earth on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that his Liberty Enlightening the World would tower over New York Harbor on October 28, 1886.