Joseph Geefs

Joseph Germain or Jozef Geefs (23 December 1808 – 9 October 1885) was a Belgian sculptor. His brothers Guillaume Geefs and Jean Geefs were also sculptors.

He was born in Antwerp, where he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, going on to Paris's École des beaux-arts and winning the Prix de Rome in 1836. In 1841 he became a lecturer in sculpture and anatomy at the Academy in Antwerp (his pupils included Bart van Hove and Jef Lambeaux), rising to be its director in 1876. He was made an officer of the Order of Leopold in 1859.

Geefs married a daughter of the architect Lodewijk Roelandt and probably produced the portrait medallion on his gravestone. Geefs was buried in Berchem. He died in Brussels, aged 76.

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