A self-taught artist, naturalist and ornithologist, John James Audubon (1785-1851) was born in Haiti and raised in France, emigrating to North America when he was 18 years old to avoid conscription into the Napoleonic wars. For many years he worked as a trading merchant, before turning to his true passion: ornithology. Audubon spent many years traveling the North American continent, identifying and recording bird species. The book he published of his research, The Birds of America was an immediate success, with Audubon becoming a household name in the nineteenth century. It is still considered to be one of the greatest works of ornithology ever created.