Which French sculptor designed the Statue of Liberty, a major U.S. symbol of freedom?

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty, a major U.S. symbol of freedom.

Bartholdi was a French sculptor who developed the monument known formally as Liberty Enlightening the World. The people of France gave the statue to the United States, while American organizers raised money for and constructed its pedestal in New York Harbor. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

Gustave Eiffel, famous for the Eiffel Tower, designed the statue’s internal iron framework, but he was not its sculptor. Édouard de Laboulaye, a French historian and abolitionist, helped inspire the project in 1865 as a monument to American independence, democratic ideals, and the end of slavery in the United States.

The copper-clad figure holds a torch in her right hand and a tablet in her left. The tablet bears the Roman-numeral date July 4, 1776, linking the monument directly to the declaration commemorated by America’s 250th anniversary. The statue stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.