Victor D. Brenner
| Victor David Brenner | |
|---|---|
Brenner holding a plaster model of the large design for the Lincoln cent (1909)
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| Born |
Viktoras Baranauskas 12 June 1871 Šiauliai, Lithuania |
| Died | 5 April 1924 (aged 52) |
| Resting place | Mount Judah Cemetery Ridgewood, Queens |
| Nationality | Litvak-American |
| Occupation | Sculptor, engraver, medalist |
| Known for | Designing the Lincoln Cent |
Victor David Brenner (born Viktoras Baranauskas; June 12, 1871 – April 5, 1924) was a Litvak-American sculptor, engraver, and medalist known primarily as the designer of the United States Lincoln Cent.
Brenner was born to Jewish parents in Šiauliai, Lithuania. His name at birth was Viktoras Baranauskas, but he changed the name to Victor David Brenner, because this made it easier to obtain American citizenship. He emigrated to the United States in 1890, living mostly in the New York City area. When Brenner arrived in America, he had little more to fall back upon except the trade taught him by his father — gem and seal engraving. This technical preparation included the tools of the sculptor's craft. He took night classes at Cooper Union. Brenner soon mastered English as he had mastered French.
Eight years later Brenner was in Paris, studying with the great French medalist, Oscar Roty at the Académie Julian. There he exhibited his work and obtained awards at the Paris Exposition of 1900. He returned to the United States, and from that time on his career prospered. He appeared to be on his way to the fulfillment of the splendid predictions made for his future by Rodin.
Brenner died in 1924 and is buried at Mount Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens County, New York.
Brenner is probably best known for his enduring Lincoln coin design, the obverse of which is the longest-running design in United States Mint history. Brenner's design had been picked by 26th U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, who had earlier posed for him in New York. Since arriving nineteen years earlier in the United States, Brenner had become one of the nation's premier medalists. Roosevelt had learned of Brenner's talents in a settlement house on New York City's Lower East Side and was immediately impressed with a bas-relief that Brenner had made of Lincoln, based on the early Civil War era photographer, Mathew Brady's photograph.
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