Creator Bio
Napoleon Sarony
1835–1868
Born in Quebec, then part of the British colony of Lower Canada, Napoleon Sarony moved to New York in 1836 to work as an illustrator. He later cofounded a photography firm in 1843. When his wife died in 1858, he left the firm and traveled across Europe in search of a new creative community and more artistic training. He spent time with his brother Oliver, a famed photographer, in Scarborough, England, before opening his own studio in Birmingham. He returned to New York in 1866. Over the course of his lifetime, Sarony photographed Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, William T. Sherman, Mark Twain, and countless other luminaries in theater, politics, and literature.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
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Portrait of Adah Isaacs Menken
Adah Isaacs Menken (1835–1868) achieved celebrity first as an actress, later gaining some literary following for her poetry. Uncertainty surrounds Menken’s family history, as she claimed various…
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Sarah Bernhardt as Cleopatra
Postcards, such as this image of the actress as Cleopatra, advertised Sarah Bernhardt’s celebrated performances for global audiences. Born Henriette-Rosine Bernard to a Jewish courtesan of Dutch…
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Alla Nazimova as Hedda Gabler
Napoleon Sarony took this photograph of Alla Nazimova in the English-language performance of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. Alla Nazimova (1879–1945) was born Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon in Yalta, Crimea, to…