Evolution of Love 2

THE FACE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

How did the widow of the creator of the Singer sewing machines give her face to the Statue of Liberty?

Isabella Boyer's life is like a thrilling novel. She was born in Paris, in the family of an African pastry chef father and an English mother.

At 20, she married sewing machine maker Isaac Singer, 50, and after his death became the richest woman in the country. After becoming a widow, Isabella began traveling the world, seeking new knowledge and exciting challenges, far too young to be buried under mourning clothes.

She remarried Dutch violinist Victor Robstett, a world celebrity and an earl, so Isabella now became a countess. Soon, she was the star of high society in America and Europe, and was invited to world events. At one of them, she met the famous French sculptor Frederick Bartoldi. At the time, Bartoldi was strongly impressed by his trip to the United States, by the size of the country, by its natural resources, by the population there, and had already accepted a proposal to create a statue symbolizing the independence of the United States.

The sculpture was supposed to be a gift from France in honor of the 100th anniversary of the country's independence. Thus, the idea of a giant statue depicting a woman holding a torch in one hand was born.

Bartoldi was so impressed by Isabella's face that he decided to use it as a model for his sculpture. Therefore, on Bedlow Island in the Gulf of New York, the Statue of Liberty was erected with the figure of an ancient goddess, but with the face of Isabella Boyer.

Isabella married, for the third time, at the age of 50, Paul Sohege, a famous collector of art.

She died in Paris in 1904 at age 62. She is buried in Passy Cemetery.

But the statue with her face continues to rise over Bedlow Island, symbolizing America's first pride, freedom.

Courtesy: Jumana Dee