Jean Francois Millet

Jean Francois Millet, a French painter, born about 1815, died Jan. 18, 1875. He studied under Delaroche, and was distinguished for his genre pictures and landscapes, which represent rural life according to the realistic school with remarkable fidelity. Among his finest works are "A Girl shearing Sheep" (1861), which was again exhibited with other works in 1867; "Teaching Tricot" (1869); "November," and "A Woman making Butter" (1870).

Jean Francois Portaels

Jean Francois Portaels, a Belgian painter, born at Vilvoorden in 1820. He studied in Brussels and under Delaroche in Paris, spent several years in Italy and the East, became director of the academy of Ghent in 1847, and was knighted in 1851. His principal paintings relate to oriental subjects, and include, besides a portrait of his patron Mehemet Ali, " The Drought in Judaaa," " Fatima," " The Gypsy," " Rebecca," " Ruth," " A Caravan in Syria overtaken by a Simoom," "A Funeral in the Desert of Suez," "A Young Jewess of Asia Minor," " A Story-teller of Cairo," and " The Suicide of Judas." His masterpiece, representing "A Drought in Egypt," obtained in 1873 a special gold medal, awarded at the Sydenham crystal palace for the best picture.

Jean Frederic Astie

Jean Frederic Astie, a French writer, born in 1822. He was for some time pastor in New York city, and subsequently professor of philosophy at Lausanne. Among his works are: Le reveil religieux des Etats-Unis, 1857-'8 (Lausanne, 1859), and Histoire de la republique des Etats-Unis depuis l'etablissement des 'premieres colonies jusqu'a Velection du president Lincoln, 1620-1860 (2 vols., 1865).

Jean Frederic De Waldeck

Jean Frederic De Waldeck, baron, a French artist, born in Paris, March 16, 1766, died there, April 30, 1875. He early visited South Africa, and subsequently went with the army to Italy and Egypt. He made archaeological explorations in Chili and Guatemala in 1819, and long resided in Mexico. The French government in 1826 granted him a pension of 2,000 francs. In the last 40 years of his life he lived in Paris, and he retained his mental powers to the end. He published Voyage archeologique et pittoresque dans le Yucatan (Paris, 1837). Two of lii3 Mexican pictures were exhibited in 1869, under the title of Loisir du centenaire. His age was contested, but he was generally regarded as a centenarian.

Jean Frederic Oberlin

Jean Frederic Oberlin, a French philanthropist, born in Strasburg, Aug. 31, 1740, died at Waldbach, in the Steinthal (Ban de la Roche), June 1, 1826. He was educated at Strasburg, was for seven years a private tutor, and in 1767 became pastor of the poverty-stricken villages in the Steinthal, Alsace. The result of his 60 years' labor there was, that good roads, bridges, and dwellings were constructed, fine schools and comfortable hospitals established, and the agricultural products of the district greatly improved and increased, while the moral condition of the inhabitants was equally advanced. One of the many biographies of Oberlin is by II. Ware, jr. (Boston, 1845).