Mestrovic, Ivan

Mĕstrović, Ivan (ē`vän mĕsh`trōvyĭch), 1883–1962, Croatian-American sculptor, b. Vrpolje, Croatia (then in Austria-Hungary). He was a shepherd and then an apprentice to a marble cutter. At 17 he went to the Vienna Academy, and then to Rome. His figures and reliefs were strongly influenced by Rodin and classical Greek sculpture. Many of Mĕstrović's sculptures are of biblical scenes, often in wood. He immigrated to the United States in 1947, taught at Syracuse (1947–55) and Notre Dame (1955–62) universities, and became a U.S. citizen in 1954.