Sophia Rosamond Praeger, MBE, HRHA, MA was an Irish artist, sculptor, illustrator, poet and writer.
14 Facts About Rosamond Praeger
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Rosamond Praeger's parents were Willem Emil Praeger and Marie Ferrar Patterson.
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Rosamond Praeger's father, immigrated to Belfast from Holland to work with his uncle in the family linen company, which was established in 1860.
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Rosamond Praeger had five brothers, one of whom was the naturalist Robert Lloyd Rosamond Praeger.
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Rosamond Praeger received her primary school education at the day school run by the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian minister, Rev Charles James McAlester.
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Rosamond Praeger attended Sullivan Upper School, the Belfast School of Art and the Slade School of Art in London.
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At the Belfast School of Art, Rosamond Praeger studied under the painter George Trobridge, and became a member of the Rambler's Sketching Club in 1886.
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From 1892 to 1893, Rosamond Praeger travelled to Paris to study, having been encouraged to do so by Legros and Rope.
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Rosamond Praeger wrote and illustrated children's books, as well as providing botanical illustrations for her brother's work.
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Rosamond Praeger's best known piece, The Philosopher, was first shown at the Royal Academy in London during 1920, subsequently Praeger made several copies for various museums.
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Rosamond Praeger modelled figures for such diverse bodies as the Northern Bank, the Carnegie Library on the Falls Road in Belfast and at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral.
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Rosamond Praeger was President of the then Ulster Academy, which later became the Royal Ulster Academy.
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Rosamond Praeger became an Honorary Academician of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1927, received an honorary MA from Queen's University Belfast in 1938, and in 1939 was awarded the MBE.
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Rosamond Praeger died at Rock Cottage, Craigavad, County Down, on 16 April 1954, the day before her 87th birthday, and was buried in the Priory Cemetery.