biography of John Francis Eugène PRUD'HOMME (1800-1892)

Birth place: St. Thomas Island, Virgin Islands

Death place: Georgetown section of Washington, DC

Profession: Engraver

Studied: apprenticed to his brother-in-law, engraver Thomas Gimbrede, 1814

Member: A.N.A., 1838; N.A., 1846

Comments: Brought to NYC by his parents in 1807. By 1821 he had embarked on his own, engraving portraits and illustrations for many books and periodicals, including a number for the National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans (1831). Prud'homme served as Curator of the National Academy from 1845 to 1853. From 1852 to 1869 he was designer and engraver for a NYC banknote firm. Moving to Washington (D.C.) in 1869, he took employment with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, retiring in 1885.