Bloch, Elisa:

By: Isidore Singer , Edouard André

French sculptress; born at Breslau Jan. 25, 1848. After receiving a thorough education at Paris, whither her parents had removed, Elisa Bloch devoted herself to sculpture. In 1878 she first exhibited in the Salon. Encouraged by the praises of the critics and the exhortations of the great sculptor Chapu, she persevered in her efforts, and continued to exhibit numerous productions in subsequent Salons, among which may be mentioned: "The Golden Age" (Salon, 1885); "The Tribune Virginius Swearing to Avenge His Daughter Virginia" (Salon, 1889); and "Moses." The last-named work obtained honorable mention in the Salon of 1896, and was reproduced in bronze and exhibited at the centenary of French art (French Exhibition, 1900). Many monuments erected in various French towns by national subscription are the product of the chisel of Elisa Bloch. She distinguished herself also as a statuary, having reproduced busts of a great number of modern celebrities, among whom were Jules Oppert and Zadoc Kahn.