Franz Benque

Franz Benque (12 March 1841 – 30 March 1921), known in Brazil as Francisco Benque, was a German photographer.

Biography Son of a professor, Benque was born in Ludwigslust, nowadays, a city located in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, (northern Germany). He received lessons of photography from C.C. Hersen before moving to the then Austrian city of Trieste in 1864, where he opened a studio in partnership with the Italian watchmaker Guglielmo Sebastianutti (1825–1881), marrying Sebastianutti's 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 of Paris in 1867, Benque returned to (Germany) in 1869 and opened a studio with his cousin Conrad Kindermann in Hamburg.

One year later, in 1870, immigrated with his family to Brazil. With Alberto Henschel (1827–1882), a German from Berlin that migrated to Brazil in 1866, owner of the company Photographia Allemã (German Photography) with studios in Bahia and Pernambuco, Benque established the partnership Henschel & Benque Photographia Allemã that would become one of the most renowned Brazilian photography houses in that time.