Henri Lagriffoul

French sculptor and medalist Henri Lagriffoul designed the head of the French coins “Marianne” that appeared on coins of 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimes from 1962–66, which were only replaced in 2002 with the introduction of the Euro. His father owned a goldsmith shop in Paris, and he studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1924-25 under Jules Coutan and Paul Landowski. He later also created the medal for the marriage of Prince Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly in 1956. Lagriffoul also supported his friend and colleague Landowski in his best-known work, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Lagriffoul won the Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1932 and was eventually named professor at the École des Beaux-arts in Paris in 1944 and from 1969 at the École Polytechnique. His work was diverse in style, and difficult to classify, although it is usually described as strong, harmonious and impressive. It contained elements from the Greek and Egyptian, and also from French Roman or Gothic cathedrals. The submitted work Athlete Massaging his Leg was a plaster sculpture, of which only a picture was found in the catalog of the art competitions.