Wilhelm Josef Soukop

Place: Vienna

Born: 1907

Death: 1995

Biography:

Willi Soukop was born in Vienna, Austria, on 5 January 1907, the son of an Austrian mother and a Moravian (Czech) shoemaker-father. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and left Austria for England in 1934. He became a member of the Royal Academy and an early teacher of Elisabeth Frink. Soukop's work is prominently on display at Hull University in front of the Brynmor Jones Library. Two external Willi Soukop bas-relief sculptures, one of an owl and the other of a human figure signifying the light of knowledge, are located over the main entrance in the older part. Soukop's sculptures can also be found at Dartington Hall, Swansea University, and the London Zoo.