Origins & Early Life

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (French: [ɡaspaʁ feliks tuʁnaʃɔ̃]; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar (French: [nadaʁ]) or Félix Nadar, was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist who was a proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take aerial photographs. Photographic portraits by Nadar are held by many of the great national collections of photographs. His son, Paul Nadar, continued the studio after his death.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (also known as Nadar) was born in early April 1820 in Paris, though some sources state he was born in Lyon. His father, Victor Tournachon, was a printer and bookseller. Nadar began to study medicine but quit for economic reasons after his father's death. Nadar started working as a caricaturist and novelist for various newspapers. He fell in with the Parisian bohemian group of Gérard de Nerval, Charles Baudelaire, and Théodore de Banville.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

His friends picked a nickname for him, perhaps by a playful habit of adding "dar" to the end of words, Tournadar, which later became Nadar. His work was published in Le Charivari for the first time in 1848. In 1849, he founded...

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