Henri Alphonse Séraphin Marie Gaudier-Brzeska [commonly known as Henri Gaudier-Brzeska was born Henri Alphonse Séraphin Marie Gaudier in Vomimbert, St Jean de Braye, near Orléans, France on 4 October 1891 and was the son of Germain Gaudier (1864–1934), a joiner and carpenter. In 1907 he was awarded a two-year state scholarship to study abroad and over the next two years attended the Merchant Venturers' Technical College in Bristol, England. He then briefly worked for a coal exporter, Fifoot, Ching & Co., in Cardiff, before travelling to Germany, staying in Nuremberg and Munich. It was during this period that he decided to pursue a career as an artist, despite not having received any formal training. He tried his hand at magazine illustration, using the pseudonym Gérald, but without success.
In September 1909 he returned to France and whilst working in various jobs, made extensive visits of art galleries and libraries. On May 1910 he met Sophie Suzanne Brzeska (1871–1925), a Polish writer. They subsequently lived together, and Henri adopted the surname Gaudier-Brzeska. In January 1911 they moved to London and from March to July that year, Gaudier-Brzeska was employed as a foreign-language clerk with the timber importer Wulfsberg & Co. He also continued to study art in his spare time, whilst Sophie worked as a governess.
In 1912 Gaudier-Brzeska began actively working as a sculptor, initially in clay and then in stone. From January to September 1913 he had a studio at 454A Fulham Road, London. He then moved to Arch 25, Winthorpe Road, Putney, London. His work soon came to the attention of members of the London avant-garde including Roger Fry and his circle, Harold Gilman, Robert Bevan and the Camden Town Group, and the artists associated with Wyndham Lewis. He also developed a friendship with the poet Ezra Pound and contributed two articles to his magazine "Blast" and was one of the signatories of the Vorticist manifesto.
In 1913 Gaudier-Brzeska was a founder member of the London Group and participated in their first exhibition at the Goupil Gallery in London. He also exhibited at the London Salon.
Gaudier-Brzeska worked for a period at Fry's Omega Workshops for whom he designed furniture and a marquetry tray.
Following the outbreak of World War One in September 1914, he went back to France and enlisted as a private in the French Army. Nine months later, on 5 June 1915 he was killed in action at Neuville-St Vaast in Artois.
He was killed in action in Neuville-Saint-Vaast, Artois, France on 5 June 1915, aged 23.
