Franz Benque (12 March 1841 – 30 March 1921), known in Brazil as Francisco Benque, was a German photographer.

Biography

Son of a professor, Benque was born in

Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal re ...

, nowadays, a city located in the

Ludwigslust-Parchim Ludwigslust-Parchim is a district in the west of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bordered by (clockwise starting from the west) the state Schleswig-Holstein, the district Nordwestmecklenburg, the district-free city Schwerin, the districts R ...

district in

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

, northern (Germany). He received lessons of photography from C.C. Hersen before moving to the then

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

city of Trieste in 1864, where he opened a

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

in partnership with the Italian

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

Guglielmo Sebastianutti (1825–1881), marrying Sebastianutti' stepdaughter, Isabella, in 1868. Despite being recognized by the local press and specialized organizations, receiving – among other things – a silver medal in the

World Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

of Paris in 1867,Schaukal, Barbara
''Sebastianutti & Benque – Five Photographers. Four Generations. Three Continents''
. Retrieved 1 April 2008 Benque returned to (Germany) in 1869 and opened a studio with his cousin Conrad Kindermann in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. One year later, in 1870, immigrated with his family to Brazil. With

Alberto Henschel Alberto Henschel (13 June 1827 Ermakoff 2004, p. 174. – 30 June 1882 Ermakoff 2004, p. 175.) was a German-Brazilian photographer born in Berlin. Considered the hardest-working photographer and businessman in 19th-century Brazil, Vasquez 2000, ...

(1827–1882), a German from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

that migrated to Brazil in 1866, owner of the company ''Photographia Allemã'' (''German Photography'') with studios in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

and

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

, Benque established the partnership ''Henschel & Benque Photographia Allemã'' that would become one of the most renowned Brazilian photography houses in that

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

. In 1878 Benque returned to Trieste and continued to work with Sebastianutti. In 1903, he moved to the Austrian city of

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...

, where he died in 1921.

References

Bibliography

* Schiffer-Ekhart, Armgard: ''Sebastianutti & Benque. Fünf Fotografen. Vier Generationen. Drei Kontinente.'' ext of Barbara Schaukal catalog of the exposition, Graz, museum Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum, 16.10.-13.11.1997. * Karp Vasquez, Pedro: ''Fotografós Alemães no Brasil do Século XIX, Deutsche Fotografen des 19. Jahrhunderts in Brasilien'', ed. Metalivros, published in 2000. * Schwede, Sandra: ''Mit Licht und Tücke'', Die Frühzeit der Photographie im Großherzogtum Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1839–1880), ed. Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2006, also: Universidade de Greifswald diss. 2006. 1841 births 1921 deaths Photographers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania People from Ludwigslust German expatriates in Brazil {{Germany-photographer-stub