François Pompon (1855-1933), born in Saulieu, Côte d'Or.

François Pompon became a practitioner in Auguste Rodin's studio, and in 1893, the master entrusted him with the management of his workshop, offering him the sketch for Le Baiser, which Pompon bequeathed to the Musée de Dijon.
After a difficult period during the Great War and until 1922, Pompon presented the monumental white plaster bear (2.50 m long) at the Salon d'Automne. After the success of the life-size bear, Pompon multiplied his monumental works.
When François Pompon died in 1933, his works were deposited at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon and the Musée de Saulieu, which became the Musée François Pompon.