Born in Paris on 20-01-1893, died in Rennes in 1940. He was a grandson of the French sculptor Jean Marie Valentin (1823-1896) and son of the French art teacher Alfred Valentin (1862-1928). Etienne Valentin was a French soldier and drawer. He got recruited by the French army in November 1913, serving in the 32nd Field Artillery regiment in Fontainebleau. When the World War One started, he fought first in the French front between 1914 and 1917 and then he was sent to Macedonia in 1918 and later in Hungary in 1919. During his war service, he drew numerous of pencil drawings depicting the people and war scenes. These drawings are remarkable document of the war time. In Macedonia he stayed in Bitola, Thessaloniki, Brod and the village of Meglenci north of Bitola, where the French artillery was attacking Italian front lines. De died because of the tuberculosis that he got during the war. His life story insired the documentary @”The painter from the front-Valentin” in 2018.
A Secret code in Macedonian embroidery?
The geometry, colors, and aesthetics of traditional Macedonian embroidery has mesmerized all war painters that traveled through Macedonia or fought with their armies on Macedonian