John James Audubon

So John James was born in the late 1700s near modern Haiti (Santo Dominigo). He was the illegitimate offspring of a Spanish-Creole chambermaid and French sea captain.

He was sent to the US to oversee his father's estate in Pennsylvania and avoid being conscripted into Napoleon's army.

Apparently he was not very good at overseeing estates but was a marvelous painter and illustrator of wildlife.

His love was of birds and he is for whom the Audubon bird society is named. He was also one of the major figures in publishing the huge work, Birds of America. Here are some beautiful illustrations of his: