Ahiam Shoshanyknown as Achiam
b. 10 February 1916 in Bet Gan, Palestine (IL), d. 26 March 2005 in Paris (F); Franco-Israeli sculptor
Achiam spent most of his life living and working in France and had both Israeli and French nationality.
| from 1945 | Worked as a sculptor in a quarry near Jerusalem |
| 1947 | Moved to Prague where he won first prize in an international competition to design a monument for Lidice |
| Trip to Paris where he became familiar with the artbrut of Jean Dubuffet. Spent time in various studios including those of Ossip Zadkine and Constantin Brâncuși, and with stone sculptors in quarries. | |
| 2003 | A museum dedicated to his works was opened, the Achiam Sculpture Museum in Fort Shuni in Israel |
Achiam regularly took part in sculpture symposia as a stone sculptor:
| 1960 | Second Symposium of European Sculptors in Sankt Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria, with Goliath |
| 1963 | Forma Viva Symposium in Portorož in Slovenia with Hommage aux patriotes tombés pour la liberté |
| 1991 | Tefen Sculpture Garden Symposium in Israel |
He created figurative works with abstract forms in basalt, granite, alabaster and serpentinite, quartzite, sandstone, limestone and marble. Achiam also produced works in wood and bronze.
Nineteen of his works are near his house in Sèvres, placed along a sculpture trail. They were endowed jointly by the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine (consisting of the towns of Chaville, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray) in the département of Hauts-de-Seine.