Franz Benque (March 12, 1841 – March 30, 1921), known in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 as Francisco Benque, was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 photographer.

Son of a professor, Benque was born in Ludwigslust

Ludwigslust

Ludwigslust is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. It was the capital of the former district of Ludwigslust, and is part of the district Ludwigslust-Parchim since September 2011.-History:...

, nowadays a city located in the Ludwigslust-Parchim

Ludwigslust-Parchim

Ludwigslust-Parchim is a district in the west of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by the state Schleswig-Holstein, the district Nordwestmecklenburg, the district-free city Schwerin, the districts Rostock and Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and the states Brandenburg and Lower Saxony...

 district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. He received lessons of photography from C.C. Hersen before moving to the then Austrian

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 city Trieste

Trieste

Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

 in 1864, where he opened a studio

Studio

A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...

 in partnership with the Italian watchmaker

Watchmaker

A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since virtually all watches are now factory made, most modern watchmakers solely repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand...

 Guglielmo Sebastianutti (1825-1881), marrying Sebastianutti' stepdaughter, Isabella, in 1868.

Despite being recognized by the local press and specialized organizations, receiving - among other things - a silver medal in the World Fair

World fair

World Fair can refer to:* Expo , a large public exhibition* This World Fair, an American rock band...

 of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1867, Benque returned to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1869 and opened a studio with his cousin Conrad Kindermann in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

One year later, in 1870, immigrated

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

 with his family to Brazil. With Alberto Henschel

Alberto Henschel

Alberto Henschel was a German-Brazilian photographer born in Berlin. Considered the hardest-working photographer and businessman in 19th-century Brazil, with offices in Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, Henschel was also responsible for the presence of other professional...

 (1827-1882), a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 from Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 that migrated to Brazil in 1866, owner of the company Photographia Allemã (German Photography) with studios in Bahia

Bahia

Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...

 and Pernambuco

Pernambuco

Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...

, Benque established the partnership Henschel & Benque Photographia Allemã that would become one of the most renowned Brazilian photography houses in that time.

In 1878 Benque returned to Trieste and continued to work with Sebastianutti. In 1903 he moved to the Austrian city of Villach

Villach

Villach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...

, where he died in 1921.