Edouard Lantéri [also known as Edward Lantéri] was born in Auxerre, France on 1 November 1848. He trained in Paris under Aimé Millet and François-Joseph Duret and at the École des Beaux-Arts under Pierre-Jules Cavalier and Eugène Guillaume from 1865 to 1868. The Franco-Prussian War brought a temporary setback to Lantéri's career: for eighteen months he worked as a cabinet maker's assistant, repairing furniture damaged during the bombardment of Paris. In 1872 he moved to London, where he worked as an assistant to the sculptor, Joseph Edgar Boehm. From 1880, he taught modelling at the National Art Training School, (from 1897 known as the Royal College of Art) in South Kensington, and in 1901 was appointed Professor of Sculpture and Modelling. Lanteri subsequently taught at the RCA for the rest of his life.